She Loves Luke, She Loves Me Not
by lilypad5th
Summary: Percy Jackson is totally in love with Annabeth Chase. But the only problem is - she's in love with Luke. So when Luke asks Percy to write love letters to her, from him, Percy takes that as the perfect opportunity to show her how he feels. But things don't always go as planned... AU, no demigods, PERCABETH! :D Totally original; read and review! :)
1. In the beggining

**This idea has been festering inside my mind for weeks now; so here it is.**

**Disclaimer: RICK OWNS EVERYTHING**

**Percy's POV**

I've just about had it with Luke.

Two months at a boarding school with Luke Castellan as my roommate already has me losing my mind. He's never in the dorm room during curfew, he always leaves his dirty clothing _everywhere; _Luke is the guy that made me realize what I used to put my mom through at home. Whenever I have a test coming up and I have to study, he invites his girlfriend, Thalia Grace, to come over and "hang out". And now that I think about it, "hang out" must be code for "make out", that's all they do, anyway. My ADHD and dyslexia don't make studying any easier, either.

Luke's one of those popular jock types. He's not one to pick on people smaller than him; as far as I can tell, and he's not really into sports at all. His dad made him try out for all the sports at school, which is why Luke's the captain of the football, baseball, basketball, and volleyball, teams. Me? Well, I'm the captain of the swim team. Swimming seems like the only thing I can do right these days. And to only make matters worse, while Thalia and Luke are making out, and I'm pulling in D's and F's on my report card, Annabeth Chase, who, in my opinion, is the prettiest girl in school (and my tutor), is constantly and inadvertently flaunting around the fact that she's not into me.

The bell rang, and I got up out of my desk. It was 11:30 a.m., and I understood it was time for Study Hall; and that it meant seeing Annabeth again during tutoring. That was just what I needed; another hour of endless staring at Annabeth Chase to brighten my day.

I was walking down the hallway when my best friend, Grover Underwood, stopped me.

"Hey Perce, what's up?"

"Nothing much; I'm heading to Study Hall. I better hurry though, Annabeth doesn't like me being late to my tutoring sessions." Grover rolled his eyes.

"Dude, when are you going to ask her out? This obsession can't be healthy."

"Quiet down!" I scream-whispered. "Do you want the whole school to know?!" Grover chuckled.

"Everyone practically does. Well, everyone except for Annabeth, Thalia, and Luke. And if you don't tell her, I will." He quickened his pace and strode ahead of me on his crutches, considering he was crippled.

"Hey, wait!" I caught up to him. "I'll tell her today, okay? Gods…" Grover smirked and saluted to me as I walked down the hallway to Study Hall. So, there I was, walking down the hallway, getting ready to tell Annabeth Chase I was madly in love with her.

What did I do to deserve this?


	2. Some things don't go as planned

**I totally overdid myself; two chapters in one day.**

**Hope you guys like it! :D**

**Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns everybody.**

**Percy's POV**

"Hey Annabeth." I said, blushing. I took a seat at the chair in front of her desk. I hoped I didn't look as red as I felt.

"Hey, Percy; what did you get on your math test on Friday? Did you remember what I showed you?" She said, leaning back in her chair. I took the crumpled paper out of my back pack and held it out to her. She pursed her lips as she saw my grade.

"You got a B minus? Well, it's better than last time, considering you got a C, but just to make sure you get the concept, let's go over the lesson one more time."

That was my cue to take out my math textbook. She opened it and laid it out on the desk, flipping through the pages until found the right one. Her long, curly blonde hair spilled over her shoulders, hiding her face from view. I was too caught up in the moment to notice that she had found the page, and that she was staring directly at me with her stormy grey eyes.

"What part of the chapter did you have trouble with?" she asked.

"Um, lessons one, three, and four." She turned a page.

"Here we go; 'Number one, Suppose LM=RS…" She continued on. I sat there, staring at her for another 15 minutes before Luke walked in.

"Hey Annabeth, Percy. Have either of you seen Thalia? She was supposed to come back from volleyball ten minutes ago, but I can't find her." Annabeth started blushing, and I started getting jealous. Luke, Annabeth, and Thalia were really close. They grew up together in the same neighborhood in California when they were little; me, I grew up clear across the country in New York, New York.

"Uh…Sh-She said something about dr-driving Jason to his doctor's appointment." Annabeth stuttered. Her face was completely red; she started to look like a baffled tomato.

"Oh, okay, thanks. Well, I got to go. See ya later." finished Luke with a wave.

"Bye, I mean, see ya later Luke!" Annabeth called after him. After he was gone, she slumped back into her chair, sighed, and rubbed her temples.

"I totally made a fool of myself in front of him." She moped. Annabeth and I didn't go as far back as her, Thalia, and Luke did, but she'd been tutoring me since last school year, when I was a sophmore. And she knew that we _both_ knew she had a crush on Luke.

It took me all my courage to say, "If it's any consolation, I always goof in front of my crush." I answered as I tapped my fingers on the desk. She looked up. "Really? Who's your crush?" And that was when I realized that I had just practically set myself up for suicide.

"Uh, I'd rather not say."

"Oh come on, it's only fair if you tell me. I already told you I had a crush on Luke."

I had to come up with something, and quick.

"Can I describe her instead?"

What the flip was I doing?

"Fine, go ahead."

"Well, she's pretty..."

"Percy, half the female population can be described as "pretty". Be more specific."

"Okay, um, she's in my Math class..."

"Uh huh…" said Annabeth as she leaned forward in her chair.

"She's in AP English…"

"Uh huh…" she answered, leaning farther forward. Was it just me, or was it getting hot in here?

"She sits at table 6 at lunch..."

"And…" Annabeth leaned even further. I could feel her breath on my face. We were only a few inches apart.

"You really want to know, don't you?"

"Yup." she stated, popping the "p".

I honestly didn't think it would be possible for her to lean any further in that chair; but that didn't stop her from leaning even further.

"Fine; I have a crush on…" I racked my brain and tried to think of another girl that fit the description besides Annabeth. Like I was going to tell her that I had a crush on her since we first met…

And just then, a red-headed gift from the gods passed by in the hallway.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare."

Annabeth sat back. I couldn't read her expression. Confused? Stunned? Or was that…jealousy?

"Oh..." She answered. "I didn't know that she was your type. Frankly, I don't know what your type is, but I guess you're into shallow girls." I wasn't surprised at Annabeth's bitterness towards Rachel. They had this everlasting feud going on between them. Over what, I didn't know.

"She's not _that _bad…" I mean, Rachel was okay. She was a straight A student, like Annabeth, and she was really good at art. She was more of an activist than a strategist, though – she liked doing fundraisers for charities and stuff, which I though was pretty cool. Annabeth, on the other hand, didn't think so.

" period is almost over; you're free to go. I have some stuff I need to do, anyway." she scoffed.

She handed me my textbook. As I was stuffing my things back into my bag, I noticed that she was being a little more hostile than usual whenever I brought up Rachel; who, honestly, I brought up more than a few times a day. But I shrugged it off. Annabeth would be better by tomorrow. But the problem was, she was still crushing on Luke; and now she thinks I'm crushing on Rachel, too.

I sighed as I walked out of the door.

Fates: 1

Percy Jackson: 0

**EEEEPP! I'm so happy! TWO CHAPTERS IN A DAY! WOOOHOOO! :D**


	3. Sick days

**I give to you…CHAPTER 3! :D**

**I'm surprised that I'm updating this more than my other stories. **

**Oh well. Hope you like it! :D**

**Percy's POV**

**xXxXxXxXx**

Two days after confessing my supposed love for Rachel to Annabeth, I got a cold.

It was like the thought of me dating Rachel made my body sick. That, and the intoxicating smell of Luke's dirty gym socks.

I had given a note to my teachers explaining why I wasn't attending my classes today. Most of the teachers didn't believe me; thought I was faking, like the last three times. But Mr. Brunner understood.

Mr. Brunner has to be my favorite teacher here at Yancy Academy. He teaches History, and his favorite topic is Greek Mythology. Sometimes, he would bring in armor, other times, weapons, or replicas of old Greek scrolls. I found his class to be the most interesting. Mr. Brunner was the only person at Yancy that actually had faith in me.

Well, the only other person besides Annabeth.

I spent the day eating junk food and watching cartoons. I constantly checked my phone, hoping that Annabeth had left a message for me. I sighed; nothing. All I got was a couple of messages from Travis and Grover.

Three hours and a nap later, Luke walked in.

"Hey Perce," said Luke, loud enough to make me wake up and jump from my spot on the couch.

"What's up?" he continued, taking a can of Reddi-whip out of the fridge in the kitchen. I rubbed the back of my head, which had taken the impact after my fall.

"What in the world was that for?! I was sleeping!"

Luke shrugged. "How was I supposed to know?" I glared at him, but dropped my gaze. I was way too sick to argue at the moment.

"Rachel Dare was looking for you today. She said that you had promised to help out with some art project or something."

Aw man. I had totally forgotten about helping Rachel with her poster for the Winter Dance, which was coming up in a few weeks. Everyone who was anyone at Yancy Academy was going to be there. And I desperately wanted to go with Annabeth. Yeah, like that was going to happen.

"Did you tell her I was sick?"

"Nah, I told her that you hated her and never wanted to see her again. Of course I told her you were sick."

I rolled my eyes. I really didn't need Luke's sarcasm at the moment.

I got up from the couch and grabbed my jacket, which was hanging off the back of a chair at the table.

"I'm gone."

"Whatever," called Luke, who waved his can of Reddi-whip as a subtle "goodbye".

Fifteen minutes later, I was walking around the campus when my phone rang. Anticipating it to be Annabeth, I hurriedly answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hey Percy, this is Rachel. I heard that you were sick today, and I was wondering if you'd have time to hang out?"

I'd heard enough from Thalia and Luke to know what _that _meant…

**Let me tell you ONE THING: I'm **_**NOT **_**updating daily. I so DON'T have time for that right now; what with schoolwork and stuff. **

**Oh, and BTW; I have a pet smiley. Her name is Bobofina. She likes to eat reviews, but not the ones I feed her. Only the ones **_**you**_** give her. So if you review, Bobofina and I would be very, **_**very**_** happy…**

So feed Bobofina, today.


	4. Caught In the Act

***Wince* Awww man…two weeks without updating…I'm SO SORRY! **

**Hope you guys like this chapter! COOKIES FOR EVERYONE WHO WAITED PATIENTLY!**

**(::) (::) (::)**

**Disclaimer: Do I LOOK like Rick Riordan to YOU?!**

**Percy's POV**

**ΑΒΓΔΕΖΗΘΙΚΛΜΝΞΟΠΡΣΤΥΦΧΨΩ**

Half an hour later, I find myself sitting in Rachel Elizabeth Dare's dorm room sipping a cup of tea.

Whoopee.

I was sitting across the table from Rachel, who was telling me about her latest art project – I sneezed – and how she was thinking about having an art showcase of her work to raise funds – I sneezed again – for a school in some country whose name I couldn't pronounce. After a while, I tuned her out, and my mind wandered to other things.

Things like: Why the heck wasn't Annabeth calling me? Was she avoiding me? Does she hate me because she thinks I like Rachel?

After reminiscing in my thoughts for another five minutes, I found Rachel looking expectantly at me.

"So, are you going to help me or not?" I had no idea what she was talking about, but I nodded eagerly, trying to appear like I was engrossed in the conversation. She sighed.

"You weren't listening, were you?"

I frowned and shook my head. She was about to start again when Thalia, who just happened to be her roommate, walked in.

"OMIGODS," she cried into her phone as she plopped her purse down on the counter.

"Thalia, could you keep it down? I'm trying to talk to Percy."

Thalia kept going.

"She _didn't. _She _wouldn't! How could you let him do that to you?!" _Thalia screeched into her cell, making wild hand gestures to prove her unseen point. Rachel sighed, and then rolled her eyes. She got up from the table and walked over to the front door.

"Walk with me?" She asked, already half-way through the door. The way she said it, it didn't sound much like a question, more like," _Are you coming with me or not? 'Cause I'm leaving either way." _I saw that I didn't have much of a choice, so I just shrugged in response and followed her out.

I hugged my jacket closer to my body, shivering. It was cold outside, seeing as it was early December. Dark clouds began to roll in. The sun was going down, and the wind blew fallen leaves in various directions. Rachel walked in front, with me lagging behind, coughing every few minutes. When I had first came outside, a bunch of students were hanging around the campus, but now it was only a few. I sneezed again. I could smell the ozone in the air. The sun had just touched the horizon, the clouds were closing in. I quickened my pace and caught up with Rachel.

"Maybe we should head back. It looks like it's going to rain."

"It's not going to rain, Percy."

Thunder rumbled in the distance, but Rachel kept going. I hesitated, then followed her across the green.

She led me to Cal's Café, which was on the outskirts of the campus. I held the door open for her, and we walked into the dimly lit restaurant. There were stools at a large, raised table in the center of the building, and low-hanging lamps over each booth lining the walls of the café. We took a seat at a booth in the back.

"So…" said Rachel. I started to squirm in my chair, which made a loud, rubbery sound. How was I supposed to feel comfortable with her staring at me like that? I drummed my fingers on the table (ADHD, remember?).

"Yeah…" I chuckled nervously.

"Tell me about yourself." said Rachel, who leaned back into her seat. I stopped drumming my fingers. I didn't really know Rachel that well; we'd only known each other for a couple of months; but I didn't see any harm in talking to her, though.

So…I told her about me. I told her about where I grew up, about my mom, about my getting kicked out of every school I've ever been to; everything; well, everything except me liking Annabeth. That, and telling Annabeth that I had a crush on her. What? I didn't know her _that_ well…and I _certainly_ wasn't going to tell her that I actually didn't like her, despite what Annabeth thought.

Rachel told me about her life, too. She told me about her trips to various countries around the world (lucky bum), about her life as an only child, and about her latest art projects, and how she once went to Africa to build a school for blind children. Thinking back on it, her life was pretty impressive. She had a passport and a hundred dollars in her pocket – all I had was a few quarters and a Twinkie.

Wait, scratch that - I ate it.

Rachel was in the middle of telling me about a girl she met in Africa who was raised by baboons **(AN: True story; I call her Tarzan-a XD)** when the last two people I wanted to see together at that moment walked in.

Annabeth – and Luke, who just happened to be trailing behind her.

I immediately slid down in my seat; Rachel shot me a _what-the-heck-are-you-doing _face before glancing towards the door. She scowled.

"Oh gods, not _her…_"

"You know what? I think I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

And with that, I raced to the bathroom in the back of the restaurant, where Annabeth and Luke couldn't see me.

When I looked in the bathroom mirror, I freaked.

I began to hyperventilate, splashing water on my face from the sink, staring into my reflection, mumbling to myself every now and then, "You're _not _going out there…" Worst scenarios popped up into my thoughts – the worst being Annabeth seeing me and Rachel together, assuming that we were on a date. I shivered. I could _not_ let that happen. Man, I acted like such a teenage girl sometimes.

A toilet flushed in the background, and, Suddenly, the perfect plan had formulated in my head:

_Plan A:_

_Step 1: Hide out in stinky, dirty men's bathroom._

_Step 2: Wait till Annabeth and Luke leave the café._

_Step 3: Make sure the coast is clear before exiting the bathroom, then, quietly leave the restaurant without Rachel. When outside, congratulate yourself on how smart you are for coming up with this pathetic plan. Annabeth would be proud._

_If Step 3 fails, then proceed to Plan B._

_Plan B: Cry like a baby if you're caught trying to leave the restaurant, deny everything, and leave with what little dignity you have left. If you had any in the first place (I mean, I'm the one hiding out in the bathroom…)._

Plan B was looking pretty good at the moment…

Just as I was about to haul my dignity out the bathroom door, a little voice spoke to me in from the back of my head, and, surprisingly, it sounded a lot like me…

Great, now I was hearing things.

"_What the Hades are you doing?!"_ said the little voice. _"Don't you dare open that door!"_ I was about to let go of the door handle when another tiny voice echoed through my thoughts.

"_Let's just get this over with," _said tiny voice #2. _"Would it really hurt if Annabeth saw you with Rachel?"_

"Dude, you're me. If anything, _you _should be the first person to understand why I can't let that happen." I replied as a toilet flushed in the stall behind me. An old man exited the stall with a trail of toilet paper coming from his shoe. He peered at me curiously, and then asked, "Who were you talking to?"

"No one," I grumbled at my reflection in the mirror. I glared at my reflection with as much intensity as I could muster, but my reflection returned the gesture. The guy shook his head, washed his hands, and left, muttering, "Crazy teenagers…"

I sighed, scratched my head, and groaned. Rachel was probably sitting out there, wondering where I went and having a glaring contest with Annabeth, who would be sitting down next to Luke, who would have his arm slinging over her shoulder. I scowled. I was going out there if I liked it or not; but only to prevent Annabeth and Rachel from killing each other.

And to keep Luke from getting my girl. Well, she wasn't _mine _(yet), but you get the point.

So, I picked up what little dignity I had left, and opened the door…

To slam right into Luke.

"Whoa, didn't see you there!" said Luke as he backed up to avoid further collision. I stumbled, lost my footing, and fell to the ground, landing on my butt. "Wait - Percy? What're you doing here?" I grunted, as I struggled to pick myself up off the floor. Luke offered me a hand (which was totally unlike him; probably trying to impress the ladies with his faux good manners…), but I brushed his hand away and got up on my own.

"I just came to get a latté..." I trailed off as I glanced back into the café. Annabeth was fixated on her laptop. Thank the gods no one saw me fall – that would've drawn _way_ too much attention.

"Really? 'Cause Rachel said you were here with her."

Ladies and gentleman, I give you plan B. (Refer to plan B.)

"Uh, no I'm not." I lied, flashing him what I thought to be a convincing smile as I slowly tried to inch my way around him.

"Whatever," said Luke, who had lost interest in the conversation and started to head for the counter in the front of the café.

I had made it halfway to the door when Rachel called out to me.

"Percy, over here!" said Rachel rather loudly, smiling and waving her arms to get my attention. I winced, and glanced in Annabeth's direction. Apparently, she didn't hear Rachel call my name, because she didn't look up from her laptop.

I hurried over to our table.

"You were in the bathroom for a while. Everything okay?" she asked in between slurps of her frappuccino. What was she, my doctor?

"I'm fine. Uh, how about we get going?"

"But we just got here…"

"Then we'll get something to go. Let's just hurry up and leave, I don't want to be caught in that storm." I stated, pointing outside the window to the dark gray clouds brewing in the distance.

Rachel made a face and then slid out of the booth. After ordering our food, I bolted for the door. I was almost there; I could almost see the dorms in the distance, only to be stopped by – of all people – Annabeth.

"Hey Percy!" she called, waving and smiling in my direction. I slowly turned around. "Hey…"

Her eyes shifted over to Rachel, who had stopped behind me with a bagel in her mouth. "Rachel," Annabeth said coldly before turning her attention back to me. "Leaving so soon? I saw you over there by the bathroom earlier. Maybe you'd have time to hang out and talk…?" she left the question hanging, looking at me expectantly. Stupid, pretty Annabeth and her stupid, pretty face. I sighed and trudged over to where she was sitting. She scooted over in the booth as Luke sat back down next to her, and I sat on the booth across from them next to Rachel.

I sighed. So much for escaping unnoticed.

Fates: 2

Percy Jackson: 0

**YAY! I'm so proud of myself! 5 whole pages! YES!**

**REVIEW! PLEASE! IT WOULD MEAN THE WORLD TO ME AND BOBOFINA! :D**


	5. Welcome to McDonalds!

**Hey guys…remember how in the last chapter, Luke was getting food while Percy was freaking out? **

**Well, here's what happened…from a different person's point-of-view…**

**First person to point out which other book series made a cameo in the chapter gets a paragraph long sneak peek at chapter 6! :D**

**Hint: **_Also by Rick Riordan…_

Bianca Di Angelo's POV

_**Μαθαίνω πώς να γράψει στα ελληνικά! :)**__** – Go to Google Translate and search this up in Greek!**_

For some unknown reason, every day, I wake up and return to _this _place. And Cal's Café is the _last _place you would want to spend time at.

But that didn't stop me, did it? _No._ That's what I thought.

'Cause this freaking excuse of a restaurant is where I get my money from. 'Cause it's my job.

When my little brother Nico suggested that I work here, I thought,_ Hey, this could be fun. It's close to Clover, my community college downtown.  
_

Ha. _Fun._

So, there I was, standing at the cash register, waiting for my infernal shift to end. Storm clouds were brewing outside, and anyone who had half a mind was indoors. I did a quick scan of the restaurant. A couple of nerds and a goth chick were sitting at one table. My friend Zoë Nightshade was sitting at another, waiting for me to get off work; a blonde had her eyes glued to her laptop at another table. And then…wasn't that Percy Jackson by the bathroom? The swim team guy? And just who was that red-headed girl sitting at that table over there? And was that…Annabeth Chase, the chick typing away on her laptop? My brow furrowed as I tried to put the pieces together, but nothing came to me – except for Luke Castellan, who was making his way towards the counter.

"Hey," he said blandly, scanning the menu board hanging above the counter. I put on my _Welcome-to-McDonald's _face and asked, "Hi! What would like off the menu?" He continued to scan the menu. "Uh…" he hesitated, pulled out a note, and read, "A soy latte, hold the foam, with cinnamon, chocolate shavings, marshmallows, and extra whip-cream. A Gatorade for me." He proceeded to hand me the note, but I replied, "I got it," before starting on the order. While I was shaving off the chocolate, my mind wandered to my friend Thalia. Wasn't Luke her boyfriend? Is he here with Annabeth? I mean, I would totally understand if they were friend-being-friends, but they usually never hung out together, just the two of them, and don't forget, _alone._

I handed Luke his order.

As he walked away, I tried to guess who he was here with. If he went right, he'd be here with Annabeth. Left, the red head. I _highly _doubted he was here with her. Just then, as Percy was leaving the restaurant, Annabeth called over to him, and he turned around and sat at the table with her. The red head followed suit. And to put a rest to my suspicions, he made a right, and sat down next to Annabeth. As soon as his tushy hit the seat, I whipped out my phone and ensued to text Thalia about what was going on.

Here's how the conversation went:

Me: OMIGODS.

Thalia: …wht?

Me: Luke's at Cal's. With ANNABETH. :O

Thalia: …I realy don't c whts wrong wit tht…-_-

Me: Thals…theyr here…together…_alone_…

Thalia: …what r they doin?

Me: Idk, it jus looks lik ther talkin…

Thalia: C? no problem here

Me: U sur about tht? CUZ HE JUS PUT HIS ARM AROUN HER. OMIGODS, THEYR CUDDLING O_O

Thalia: …

Thalia: I'M COMIN OVA DERR X(

I shut off my phone, and leaned across the counter. The two couples started talking; Percy looked like he was going to DIE of embarrassment (poor boy will never get the girl of his dreams). Yeah...it's a small town. Gossip travels pretty fast around here in Rosedale.

Just then, I caught a glimpse of Thalia's sky blue convertible pull into the parking lot. Thalia then **(A/N LITERALLY) **stormed into the restaurant, and scanned the room for Luke.

_This _was going to be _fun, _and don't forget on YouTube.

Everyone looked up, including Luke, who stuttered, "Uh, h-hey Thals," while Annabeth's face flushed pink. Thalia's was more of a red color.

She sashayed over to their table. "Mind if I squeeze in?" she asked, and without waiting for an answer, she forced her way in between Annabeth and Luke. "So, what's up?" asked Thalia, who was batting her eyes at Luke.

Luke shifted in his chair uncomfortably.

"Um, nothing much. I was just talking to Percy and Rachel here about the Winter Dance, right guys?" he stated, trying to get them to back him up. Rachel nodded.

"_Sure_…so what brings you here, Thals?" questioned Rachel, who was eyeing Thalia suspiciously. Thalia wasn't one for coffee – she barely came to the restaurant, probably to avoid my friend Zoë. They had this feud thing that going on for the past couple of years.

"I just wanted to say hi to my friends, silly." Thalia giggled. I swear I saw her eye twitch.

"So," said Percy, who hadn't spoken during the previous conversation. "Who are you guys going with to the dance?"

"I'm not sure yet," said Luke, who was apparently unaware that his girlfriend was sitting right next to him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my friend Zoë, who was also observing the interaction, mutter, "Men."

Thalia didn't say a word.

Three awkward, tension-filled minutes later, Percy spoke up again, saying, "How about you Rachel?"

She shrugged, and answered, "With whoever asks me first, I guess; I mean, as long as they're cute and male." She replied, obviously tryingto leave him a hint, but Percy didn't get it. He turned to Annabeth.

"Okay…how about you Annabeth?"

"I'm not sure yet," she said quietly, sneaking a sideways glance at Luke. "I'm not really positive if I'm going or not, anyway."

She might as well have been holding a sign that said, _Luke, PICK ME!_

Percy frowned; Rachel smiled slyly.

"Hey, Percy - how about you? Who're you asking out to the dance?"

"Um..." he stuttered, not sure of how to answer. Rachel batted her eyes, Annabeth didn't meet his gaze. He would probably ask out Annabeth (not _now_; when Luke wasn't around), but I highly doubted that he would say that at the moment.

"I'm not sure yet. I mean, the dance is in a week-and-a-half, right? I've got plenty of time to choose."

_Wise answer, young padawan._

Ugh. Nico has me watching _WAY_ too much Star Wars nowadays.

And speaking of him, he walked into the café.

I smirked as he noticed Thalia sitting with the Luke and the bunch.

Now _this_ was going to get _interesting._

You see, Nico likes Thalia, Thalia likes Luke, Luke likes Thalia and Annabeth – mostly Annabeth – Annabeth likes Luke, Percy likes Annabeth, and Rachel likes Percy.

Did you get any of that?

Anyways, Nico bitterly trudged over to the counter and sat down on a stool.

"Hey…" he muttered, still glaring at the back of Luke's head.

I sighed.

"Calm down, Nico. She's just some girl; don't let the fact that she's Luke's girlfriend drag you down."

"Just get me a cup of coffee," he muttered in disgust as Thalia scooted closer to Luke.

My brother was kind of a nerd – he played Mythomagic (this stupid game that's associated with Greek Mythology), was an expert on Sci-fi movies, and had an unnerving collection of charcoal gravestone rubbings (it's like when you take a sheet of paper, press it against a tombstone, and – never mind).

I gave a small smile. "How about I take you to a movie after my shift's done, you know, the one you were talking about earlier –"

"You're taking me to see _The House at the End of the Street_?"

"That's an awfully long name, but yeah."

"Dad's going kill you if you take me to see that."

I smiled.

"Which makes it more worthwhile…"

"Thanks," he said, smiling, as I handed him his coffee. "I'll wait for you outside." And with that, Nico got up and left.

He's a good kid (even though he's fourteen, but still…). I realized that I hadn't been paying much attention to Luke and the gang, and when I turned around, I was surprised at what I saw.

Luke and Thalia had gotten up and started talking in a secluded booth in the back of a restaurant. Percy was sitting at his seat hopelessly, trying to tune out the bickering between Annabeth and Rachel, which had just gone up a decibel. Thalia and Luke got up from their booth.

Thalia's expression told me that the conversation didn't end well.

"I'm leaving," was all she said as she gathered her things and left the restaurant in haste. What had just happened?

Luke sat down next to Annabeth - he looked relieved, like a huge burden was lifted from his shoulders.

Thalia stormed back into the restaurant.

"Listen here, _Luke_," she spat in disgust, his name escaping her lips as if it were toxic. She walked back over to the table. Everyone in the café looked shocked, stunned and surprised at the same time, and by then, I had a pretty good idea as to what they had talked about.

"I'm not going to stand here and watch you go around screwing my friends, but let me tell you _this_," she leaned over the table, right in Luke's face, "I don't care _who_ you lie to, _what _you're going to do to them, _where _you're going to leave them standing in the rain – but let me say one thing; It is _not _going to be _her._ And you _know_ who I'm talking about. Are we clear?"

And with that, Thalia sashayed over to the front door of the café, not waiting for an answer, and then it got quiet.

As soon as she reached the door, Thalia stopped. She slowly turned her head in the direction of Luke's table.

"It. Is. OVER," and with that, Thalia Grace left Cal's Café, leaving one astounded Luke to try and comprehend what had just happened.

After I had saved and uploaded the video on YouTube, my watch beeped, signaling my shift had ended. I smiled, took off my hat, hung my apron on a hook, and skipped out of the restaurant, leaving behind a dozen dazed costumers. Nobody made a sound. Luke sat there with his mouth hanging open, Annabeth just stared into space, Rachel was frowning at no one in particular, and Percy looked like he was going to have a heart attack. I know what he was thinking:

Luke -Thalia = Single Luke.

Annabeth = Single Annabeth.

Single Luke + Single Annabeth = LOVE.

_That_ was a problem.

I turned and took one last glance at their table, giving swim-star Percy Jackson a sympathetic smile.

But it wasn't _my _problem.

And I was glad for that.

**Best. Chapter. EVER! I'm so happy! YAY! **

**Review - it would mean the world to me! It'll make my cold better, too! **

**And Bobofina's still hungry, you know… /:)**

**No seriously. PLEASE review. I have like, 40 favorites and follows for this story, 2,760 views – and 8 reviews. What's up with that?! I actually enjoy reading them, you know – I want to know what you think about the story. And feel free to submit any flames or ideas for the next chapter.**

**Thanks, and don't forget to review! (Guests can review too, you know!) :)**

**LILY SIGNING OUT!**


	6. Letters for the Enemy

***wince* Sorry for holding out on you guys! I had a lot of things going on for the past few weeks, but I took the time to sit down and write you guys this chapter. **

**Oh, and BTW, I'm changing the "Halloween Dance" to "Winter Dance", so the time can be more accurate.**

**Anyways, thanks for everyone who favored and followed this story! I really appreciate it, I know I'm not the best writer, but at least I _try_ my best. Thanks to everyone who endured this A/N, and put the word "golifrafrawhee" in your review if you read it (don't ask where I got the word from…). :) **

**Enjoy!**

Percy's POV

**xXxX Λιλι XxXx**

Piper McLean is now going on my list of people who annoy me, right next to Great-grandma Gaea.

It was math class, and Mrs. Dodds, the crazy, sadistic math teacher at Yancy Academy, was droning on about y-intercepts and square roots and all that stuff. I was still sick, and sneezed every few minutes, but the teachers decided that I was well enough to continue my classes, which made me a little disappointed, but at least I'd get to see Annabeth again.

I was in the process of doodling a picture of Annabeth, which had turned out to look more like a deformed squirrel, when Piper tossed a piece of paper onto the surface of my desk. I shot her a suspicious glance.

"From Luke," she mouthed.

I opened it up, and scribbled onto the piece of paper, in sloppy handwriting, was the message:

"I want you to do me a favor…"

I sighed, and scribbled down an answer. Under Luke's line, it said:

"If this is like the last favor you asked me to do, I'm _so _not TP-ing Clarisse's house again…"

I passed the note to Piper, who passed it to Leo, who passed it to Connor, who passed it to Frank, who then passed it to Luke. Luke took the note from Frank and unfolded it. Mrs. Dodds turned around, and I pretended to have a sudden interest in the lesson. She narrowed her eyes at the class, and turned around, continuing to blab on and on about mathematics, muttering complaints under her breath about how much she hates teaching at our stupid school.

Piper passed the note back to me, and I unfolded it. Luke had written:

"No, no, it's nothing like that. It's really important…okay? C'mon, Perce…just this once?"

I huffed and wrote:

"Fine."

I passed the note to Piper, and a few minutes later, she passed it back. Luke had replied:

"Whew. Thanks man. Okay, so here's what I need you to do: You know how Thalia and I broke up last week? Well, I kind of like Annabeth now, and, uh…I want you to write love letters to her. From me. All I need you to do is write a few and give me the credit. I know, it sounds stupid and crazy and all that, but I figured girls liked romance and stuff, and that Annabeth likes poetry and smart stuff like that. I really, _really, _need you to do this for me, man. I _suck _at romantic stuff. Please?"

Okay, by then I had a heart attack. He wanted _me _to write Annabeth _love letters?!_ And he wanted me to say they were from _him?! _The entire ordeal was surreal. It's like asking _Hephaestus_ to give love letters to his wife from _Ares_. That's just _wrong._

Mrs. Dodds started blabbering about geometry in the background, and, trying not to cry, I wrote back:

"…FINE. You owe me, Castellan…"

I gave the note to Piper, who sat behind me, and slumped back in my chair, defeated. This wasn't going well at all.

Just then, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and Piper once again handed me the note.

"Thanks! And don't worry, I'll pay you back," wrote Luke.

_By what, dating Annabeth? 'Cause that doesn't sound very fair to me…_ I thought. The bell rang, signaling the end of math class. Mrs. Dodds sighed as everyone filed out of the classroom, shuffling their papers, and grabbing their textbooks as they headed off to lunch. I grabbed my math book and left.

When I got to the cafeteria, it was packed. High school students swarmed everywhere. Everyone was sitting in cliques: the Jocks in the front, the Drama kids to the left. Since I was the captain of the swim team, I usually sat at the Jock table, but I wasn't feeling very Jock-y at the moment.

I sat down at the Geek table with Grover, Travis and Connor.

"Hey Perce," said Grover, surprised, through a mouthful of PB&J. "What're you doing here?" I sat down, groaning as I rubbed my temples. I glanced at the Jock table. Luke was telling some story about a football game he won some time ago, and the guys were hanging on to every word. I turned to towards the Prep table, where Annabeth was reading a book so big, it could've been the sequel to the Bible. I turned to face Grover.

"What, why can't I just hang out with my friends?" I snorted, drumming my fingers on the table.

"Because your friends aren't popular…" mumbled Travis under his breath. An awkward silence followed. Travis had a point. A popular hanging with a geek was like trying to mess with the Circle of Life. It just didn't work that way. I sighed, trying to break the tension, knowing he was right, but just because my friends weren't part of the popular crowd didn't mean I couldn't hang with them.

"I'm going to get some lunch," I spoke, breaking the silence. I got out of my seat and headed for the lunch line at the front of the cafeteria.

I got in line behind the last guy, and was picking up a tray when a hand grabbed my shoulder. I spun around to see Piper, the last person I expected to see, who had a sympathetic look on her face. I was about to ask why when she interrupted me.

"Hey Percy… I kind of, well, saw what you and Luke wrote on that piece of paper in math class. I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to look, but my curiosity got the best of me. Sorry." She rushed on. "Really, though: are you _seriously_ going to write love letters to Annabeth for Luke? I know you like Annabeth, and that he does too, but really Percy, really_?" _Piper huffed in frustration.

"What did _I _do?" I complained. Who did she think she was, telling me what and what not I'm supposed to do! GODS!

"Everything, that's what! Who in their right mind would agree to do such a thing?"

"Maybe I'm not in my right mind," I retorted, taking a step forward as the line moved along. Piper grunted.

"Whatever, Percy. I just don't think you thought Luke's favor through. Your practically setting yourself up for failure," reasoned Piper.

"Just leave me alone, will you? It's not even your business," I responded, moving along with the line. I was about to go back to my seat when Piper grabbed my arm.

"Okay, okay, fine. It isn't my business, but that doesn't mean I can't help you," she stated. I hesitated, torn between going back to the Geek table and receiving Piper's advice.

I stood back in the line, and Piper smiled.

"Okay," she started, "There's still a chance. Maybe you can still get Annabeth…_and_ _maybe you could use the love letters to do it!" _she whispered excitedly. I groaned in exasperation. How?

"Now, here's what you have to do…" she began. "Instead of saying they're from Luke, put "From Your Secret Admirer" at the end. Then she won't know who sent them. Oh, and leave little hints in each letter, like saying that your love for her is as deep as the ocean or something. Then she'll get the hint that you love the ocean as much of you love her. It'll be so cute! SQUEEEEE!" gushed Piper, who then stopped abruptly.

"Damn, I sound like my mother. This needs to stop," She stated, in- and exhaling.

"But, yeah, that's pretty much all you have to do. This is going to be great!" Piper chattered excitedly. She glanced at her watch, and gave a quick "Bye! Gotta go," before hurrying to leave the cafeteria.

"Where you going?" I called after her, slightly confused and bewildered at the same time.

"Winter Dance Committee meeting! Oh, and Percy?" said Piper, who was nearing the cafeteria door. "

I still wouldn't do it if I were you, but if you need any help, just ask." She smiled apologetically, and with a final wave, she left the lunchroom.

As annoying as she was, Piper had a point. I didn't think the entire situation through, but now that I had a plan, everything was looking to turn out for the better. Luke was going _down._

Percy Jackson: ½ _(Oh, come on!)_

Fates: 2

**I loved this chapter! It took me forever to write it, and I had wanted to post this all week, but I kept adding more and more on, and couldn't stop. XD**

**Read and Review, my minions! Bobofina's hungry! :)**


	7. From Your Secret Admirer

**SQUEEEEE! Thanks to EVERYONE for reviewing all the previous chapters! I'm so freaking happy! Anyways, I'm going to keep it short today. I had an epiphany in the shower and was like, "OMIGODS!" when I got the ideas for the next few chapters of each my fanfics at the same time. So, since I updated my other story, I decided to start working on this. :)**

**Disclaimer (which I forgot to do last chapter…): Rick owns the characters (FOR NOW), I own the plot.**

**BTW, after reading the chapter, please don't start asking me whether I've read a certain book. Yes, I have read **_**Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry**_** and **_**The Chronicles of Narnia,**_** but this is Annabeth's mind, not mine.**

**Enjoy the show! :D**

Annabeth's POV

I absolutely adore reading.

It's good to know that after a long, boring, tiresome day of schoolwork and drama, a bounded piece of knowledge is sitting in my locker, just waiting for me to indulge myself in it.

I've read hundreds of books, roaming over thousands of genres – _Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry; The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe_ – you name it, I've probably read it. If I haven't, I probably will end up reading it. The more books I read the better.

So, when I came back to my dorm after a long, busy day of classes, the last thing I had expected to read was sitting on top of my bed, right next to my new copy of _To Kill a Mockingbird_: a letter.

Running a hand through my long, curly blonde hair, I reread the letter in disbelief. I turned on the lamp on the table to my left to see better, the sun going down in the distance outside the window. The setting orb of light sent shadows draping across the dorm room, bathing the room in a soft, pinkish film. I closed the curtains, cutting of my previous source of light. The note had read:

"_Dear Annabeth Chase,_

_Um, hi...how's it going? I know, I know, not the best way to start a love letter, but I just wanted to say a few things:_

_I think you're beautiful, stunning, gorgeous, and every other word I could find in my thesaurus. You're different: you don't care about how you look as much as other girls. You're attractive to the point that I forget how to breathe…but another look at you, and I remember again. Don't mean to sound too sappy or anything, but I can't deny that it's true._

_Moving on: you're incredibly knowledgeable, and I like that about you. You always have your nose in a book, always engrossed in some heroic tale of some sort. Honestly, my GPA is a far cry from where yours stands, but you push me to do better in school. You're my inspiration._

_Annabeth, even though you may not know who I am, I just wanted to tell you that I care about you, a lot more than you think. Even though spellcheck corrected most of my bad grammar, and even though I barely knew how to spell half of these words in the beginning, will you give me a chance?_

_Love,_

_Your Secret Admirer"_

My new book, _To Kill a Mockingbird, _sat untouched to the left of where I was sitting crossed-legged on my bed. I was flattered and all, but…seriously? Was this really happening? I doubted I was dreaming, I had pinched myself a couple times, but no matter how hard I thought about it, it still didn't add up.

Who was my secret admirer?

Could it have been Luke? No matter how much I yearned for it to be, there was a good chance he wasn't the author, but I still couldn't figure out who was. Just then, my roommate Piper entered the room.

"Hey, Annabeth, what's up?" she asked, throwing her coat over a chair at the table. I quickly stuffed the note under my pillow. I had meant to show Piper the letter, but I wasn't sure when. I wanted to be sure who my aficionado was first, and then, when I was absolutely certain, perhaps I would've told her about the note. Maybe she had seen it, maybe she had heard the crumpling of the paper as it passed under my pillow, but no matter, for Piper had asked, "What's that?" pointing at my pillow. I sighed, and pulled the then crumpled paper out from under my cushion and handed it to her. Piper began to read the note.

A minute or so later, a loud "SQUEEEEE!" interrupted my thoughts.

"THIS IS GREAT!" exclaimed Piper a little too loudly. "Omigods, who do you think it is?!" she gasped. It was unlike her to get so hyped up over something such as a love letter, but I didn't say that that. Instead, I answered, "I don't know. Luke, maybe?" Only to be answered by another one of Piper's screaming fits. She calmed down, muttering, "Stupid Aphrodite genes…" referring to her mother, Aphrodite Mclean. I had met the woman once, and I had to say, she acted a lot like Piper did a few moments ago, and I could see why that was a problem.

"I guess it could be Luke, but it's too early to tell. Maybe you'll get another one," said Piper, who had calmed down, wistfully. She handed the letter back to me, murmuring to herself as she waltzed over to the bathroom, murmuring thoughts aloud such as, "So romantic," or "I wish Jason would write love letters to me…" I silently giggled, recalling those awkward moments Piper and Jason shared whenever they were around each other. I didn't need to be Piper's mom to know that they were the perfect match.

I sighed once again, slumping onto my bed, my head hitting the pillow with a soft _thump. _I didn't know who my secret admirer was, but I knew one thing for sure:

I was determined to find out.

**OMIGODS! I wrote this entire thing in 1 HOUR! NEW PERSONAL ACHEIVEMENT! YAY!**

**Read and review, please! It would make my day! :)**

**Bobafina needs to eat, you know…;)**


	8. Mailman's here!

**Omigods! 109 favs and follows…I'm going to have a heart attack! Thanks SO MUCH you guys! That means A LOT to me! :)**

**To reviewer number 46 (who was a guest): Wasn't **_**Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry**_** SO GOOD?! I loved it! Stupid TJ had to mess up everything, though… X(**

**HAPPY BELATED B-DAY to HOA-PercyJackson-JustinBieber! THIS CHAPTER'S FOR YOU! :D **

**Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns the freaking series, OK?! GODS! IT HURTS SO MUCH TO WRITE THIS! But the upside is, I own the plot. Take that, Rick. :P**

**HERE'S THE CHAPTER! :D**

Percy

**LALSDSLAMSDLMLCLSDMLCMDL**

Two days ago, I handed Piper the rough draft of the first love letter. This is how our conversation went:

"_Welcome to Piper McLean's Guide to writing a love letter:_

_Step 1: Type it (duh). We can't let Annabeth know who her secret admirer is, can we? Plus, I'm not even sure if she'll be able to understand your messy handwriting. Is this word "poo" or "prove"? And what is this a doodle of? A monkey?"_

"_It's a dolphin!"_

"_It sure doesn't look like a dolphin…"_

"_Just finish with your stupid guidelines."_

"_Okay, fine. Step 2: Use spellcheck. Read over the letter twice, just in case you might've missed a word or two. Besides, we all know how bad you can spell, Percy."_

"_Hurtful."_

"_Shhh. Now, for Step 3: Give the letter to me. I'll be adding and taking away a few things in the letter, perfecting it, you might say."_

"_Hey! I put a lot of work into that letter. I think it's pretty good."_

"_Uh huh… So yeah, I'll be perfecting the letter."_

_*Sigh* "Whatever, Piper."_

Using Pipers guidelines, I wrote another letter, this one better than the first. I smiled smugly as I read it over:

"_Dear Annabeth Chase,_

_Hi again. I know that it's been awhile, but I felt compelled to write you another letter, just to let you know how much I care about you._

_These past few days, I've been sitting in every class thinking about you. I can't stop; you're just so fun to think about. Your beauty, your smarts, your smile…what's not to like about you? If you know who I am, I can only hope you feel the same way. Honestly, I suspect that all this fantasizing about you is causing my grades to plummet, but who cares. I have you, remember?_

_I guess you're probably wondering how a teenage boy (yes, calm down, I'm not a girl) could be writing something this good. So am I. It's a shame my English papers can't be the same._

_Until the next letter, Love,_

_ Your Secret Admirer"_

Was I good or what? I probably enjoyed reading the love letters more than Annabeth did.

I was snapped out of my reverie when my phone vibrated in my pocket. Piper had texted:

"Commence phase 1."

I instantly knew what it meant, and left the boys' dorm to head over to the girls' dorm, where I would slip the letter under Annabeth's door, and Piper would pick it up and do the rest.

I opened the back door of the guys' dorm, a gust of cold winter air almost knocking me back. It was snowing now, seeing as it was early December, and I pulled my jacket closer around me. The cold nipping at my ears, I hurried over to the girls' dorm.

When I got to the front door, a bunch of girls were having a snowball fight. "Get 'em!" yelled a voice I could only recognized as Clarisse's as I quickly dodged their frosty bullets and made my way inside.

It was a lot warmer inside the dorm. Christmas trees were lit up in the foyer; garlands and mistletoe were hanging from the roof. The smell of cinnamon wafted through the air, while the boys' dorm smelled more like sweat. I preferred this smell better.

"Percy?" asked Hazel, a friend of mine, from across the room. "Hey," I replied as she ran over to me. "What're you doing here?" she asked, a bunch of Christmas wreaths in one hand, a cup of hot cocoa in the other.

"I just wanted to say "hi" to…" I fished around for a name, and, of course, I said, "Rachel."

"Rachel," Hazel repeated disbelievingly. I nodded in response. She pursed her lips.

"Sure…" she said skeptically, stepping out of my path. "Go on up." She said, pointing to the elevator. I walked over and pressed the "up" button.

When the doors slid open, a group of girls exited the elevator, and I moved back to avoid getting trampled. I could swear I felt Hazel's eyes on me as I stepped into the elevator, and was more than relieved when the doors began to close, cutting off her gaze. Just before the doors were about to close, I caught a glimpse of Annabeth entering the lobby, which was a problem.

Piper said that Annabeth wasn't going to be in the dorm until 3:00. It was 2:30. Annabeth was half an hour earlier than usual and I had to get to her dorm room before she did.

The only other person in the elevator was Reyna, who was reading a book, and didn't show any sign acknowledgment. The number for the seventh floor was lit up, and I pressed the button for the third floor. It was quiet. "Jingle Bells" was playing on the speakers. I coughed, and waited until we got to the seventh floor. When we got there, Reyna got out, still reading her book. The doors slid closed behind her, and as soon as they shut, I pressed every single button on the elevator.

If the elevator was busy, Annabeth couldn't get upstairs in time, and I would be long gone by the time she got to her room. It was pure genius.

The elevator doors opened up to the third floor, and I stepped out, running down the hall in order to save time. Each door had different wreath hung on it, and I walked down the hall until I reached room seventeen, which had a pink and gray ribboned wreath hung on it. I sighed in relief.

I was right about to slip open Annabeth's door when someone appeared from around the corner.

"Percy? What're you doing in the girl's dorm?" questioned Annabeth, who was bundled up from head to toe. She wore a scarf, mix-matched mittens, a wool hat over her Yankees cap, and laced up brown leather boots. She raised an eyebrow. I quickly hid the envelope behind my back. Annabeth walked over to me, placing a hand on one hip, and propping her textbooks on another.

_Crap._ She took the stairs.

"What's behind your back?" she asked suspiciously.

"Oh, I was just, um…delivering Piper's, um, mail."

"Why do you have Piper's mail?"

"I was holding it for her…"

"You were holding it for her because…?"

"Um…because she asked me to get it for her." Annabeth pursed her lips in thought.

"Whatever," she muttered, before opening the door to her room.

"Weird, it's unlocked," she mumbled to herself. I stood by the door, unsure of what to do.

Every time I needed to deliver a letter, Piper would make it easier for me by leaving the door unlocked so I could get in. I was kind of in a hurry today; I needed to help Rachel with decorating the gym for the dance, so I was going to slip the note under her door.

And we all saw how _that_ worked out.

"You know, maybe I'll come back later," I said nervously, backing out of the room, afraid that if I left 'Piper's mail' there, Annabeth would read it and find out who I really was.

"Sure…I'll let Piper know you're coming by," she called from the bathroom, sticking her head out of the open door and waving. "See you later, Percy."

I ran out of there as fast as I could.

So, after that little incident, I tried a different approach:

"_Wait, what am I doing again?" asked Grover._

"_I need you to go to the girl's dorm and give this note to Piper. If Annabeth sees you, make up an excuse; tell her that you have something for Piper, okay? Thanks, man."_

After Grover almost got caught, I tried _another _approach, using different people each time to deliver the letter to Piper, who would then place it on Annabeth's bed.

"_Hey Frank, can you give this to Piper for me?"_

"_Connor, can you do me a favor?"_

"_But, what if Annabeth doesn't believe me?"_

"_Just give her the letter, Leo."_

I figured that if every boy in the school showed up at her doorstep delivering mail, she wouldn't suspect a thing.

But of course, the Fates just _had _to prove me wrong…

**Well that's over. Thank God, I'm so sick and tired of writing all day. Read and review, guys. It'll make my headache feel better. :)  
**

**BTW, I know some of you may be confused when I talk about Bobofina, so let me make it clearer for you:  
**

**Bobofina is my pet smiley face, and she eats reviews. The more reviews she eats, the longer and quicker I update the story. Get it?  
**

**So feed Bobofina, today. :)  
**


	9. You've been warned

**Hi everyone. How's it going? :) I'm not really up to writing anything interesting today, so…yeah. OH, WAIT! My school's having a Christmas musical tomorrow, and I have a solo! :D WISH ME LUCK!**

**Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns PJO, and I own the rights to this story. TAKE THAT, RICK! I:)**

**Enjoy! :D **

Annabeth

I briskly walked down the hallway to my next class, hugging my books to my chest. Today had been a pretty normal day; there were no break-ups or fights. The thought of break-ups made me think to Thalia, who I hadn't talked to in a while, so I headed to the place where I thought she might be.

I rounded the corner to the library, and sure enough, Thalia was there.

Now I know what you're thinking, but she wasn't reading. She was leaning back in a chair, feet propped up on the table, headphones in ears, and listening to music. I rolled my eyes, and pulled out one of her ear buds.

"HEY!" screeched Thalia in protest, opening her eyes and spinning her head around.

"Shhh!" shushed the librarian, Mrs. C. Ms. C was the crankiest person I knew, with a mole so big it blocked out the sun. It didn't help much that she added three pounds worth of make up to her face each day. She was looking particularly ugly today, and her big, poufy blonde wig was tilting dangerously to the side.

"This is a _library,_ Ms. Grace!"

"You think I didn't know that already?!"Thalia retorted, quieter than before. She turned to me.

"I swear: some clown, somewhere, is missing their face paint right now." Claimed Thalia, referring to the librarians multi-colored face. I smiled at her remark, but then the moment passed, and Thalia was staring at me with uncertain eyes.

"Give me one logical reason why you're here." Thalia paused, remembering that she was in a library.

"_Besides_ to read."

"I just wanted to talk to you," I admitted, pulling a chair and sitting next to her. She scooted over to make room.

"Whatever." A moment of silence passed between us. Thalia looked punk-centric today, with her band-name-covered black leather jacket and combat boots. She looked like she was ready to beat someone up, and I suspected it could've been Luke.

"I want to show you something," I said, hefting my backpack off of my back and onto the table. I unzipped it and stuck my hand in, feeling around until I felt the familiar crease of an envelope. I took out a love letter and handed it to her.

"What is this?" said Thalia, confused, holding it up to the light as if it held some sort of secret message. I took it from Thals and opened it, unfolded the letter, and handed it back to her.

"It's a love letter," I explained as she began to read. I waited a few minutes before she unglued her eyes from the paper.

"Who's it from?" she inquired, her words tinged with suspicion and interest. She handed the love letter back to me.

"That's the thing," I confessed, refolding the letter and sliding it back into the envelope.

"I - I don't know. This is the longest it's ever taken me to solve a problem." My words faltered as I spoke. The whole idea was still a mystery to me.

"Wow. That's really saying something."

"I _know!_ But I have no clue whatsoever, only a few guesses as to who he is."

"So, who'd you guess?" Thalia asked, eyebrows raised in anticipation.

I looked around then leaned in and whispered into her ear, "_Luke."_

I don't know what kind of reaction I expected Thalia to give. Would she be surprised? Would she be shocked? I could even imagine her laughing, but I never anticipated her getting out of her seat, grabbing her things and walking towards the library entrance. I turned out being the surprised one.

"What did I say?" I called after her, baffled. Was Thals really that bitter towards Luke? Why was she mad? She was the one that broke up with him, anyway. What did she have to be angered at?

"Listen, Annabeth," said Thalia, slowly turning around and walking back over to me. The librarian's face reddened in anger.

"Thalia Grace, for the last time, this is a _librar_ – "

"Shut it, Martha." Spat Thalia,who directed a glare at the before said woman. Ms. C's eyes widened in shock, and her face paled, her make up shining brightly against the pastel backdrop of her skin. The other students in the library began to laugh, but after one glare from the librarian, and they returned to their books.

"Annabeth, be careful, please. I don't want you getting hurt. I know that you and Luke are close friends," she paused, probably thinking that they were closer than she wanted to admit. She continued on nonetheless, her tone more cautious and urgent.

"I know that you guys are close," she repeated, "but Luke is different now. He's _changed. _He's not the same person he used to be. You know, the one who used to keep his promises." She said bitterly.

"Just _please_ promise to be careful." pleaded Thalia, and Thalia Grace wasn't one to plead.

I looked around, unsure about what to make of all of this, and answered, "Um, okay."

Thalia smiled a sad smile, visibly satisfied with my answer, and left.

Bewildered, I gathered my things and followed her example.

I glanced at my watch as I speed walked down the hallway. I t was 1:30; I was late for Percy's tutoring session.

When I got to room 35, Percy was already there.

"Hey," I muttered, sitting down at the chair across from him. I hefted my backpack off of my shoulders and rested it on the floor next to me.

"Hey Annabeth," replied Percy.

"You're late," he noted, turning to glance at the clock that hung on the wall behind him.

"Yeah, I lost track of time talking to Thalia earlier. Sorry about that. You should've seen it though, when she told Mrs. C –"

"Ahem."

"Oh, tutoring, right," I remembered, stopping my rant in its tracks. I smiled as I pulled out my Math book.

"Let's get started."

For the next half hour or so, Percy and I went over several different subjects. At the moment, he was on the verge of flunking Math, English, History, and a bunch of other classes that I had already aced. Percy needed all the help he could get.

"_Now _do you understand?!" I said indignantly, leaning back into my chair. We'd been at the same problem for ten minutes, and I was exhausted. Percy _still _wasn't getting the concept.

"Well, if I said yes, would you believe me?"

"Probably not."

"Well, in that case, no." I sighed, rubbing my temples in frustration.

"Let's just skip it and move on," I spoke, closing the math book and pushing it to the side. Percy was about to reach for his Science book when I stopped him.

"Wait," I said, recalling what I had wanted to show him earlier. I put a hand over his to stop him; I could've sworn that he blushed, but I didn't pay it any mind. I leaned down and grabbed my backpack.

"Look," I said, dumping the contents of my bag onto the desktop. At least ten love letters spilled out onto the table. Percy plucked one from off the ground.

"What are these?" he asked, squinting to read one.

"Love letters," I gushed. I lowered my voice. "From my secret admirer." Of course, there was no one else in the room, but you could never be too careful, right?

Percy raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah," I said, as I picked a random letter and began to read:

"_Dear Annabeth Chase,_

_Some people claim that they're romantics. That they're waiting for their knight in shining armor to ride them off into the sunset. But the thing is, they usually never come._

_Sure, I had hopes to find the perfect girl. I wanted someone who was pretty, smart, bakes (specifically apple pie), etc. And even though about more than half of the stubborn, romantic population ends up single, I realized something. _

_You bake a mean apple pie. _

_Even though nobody's perfect, I just wanted to say: you're the closest thing I have._

_Love, _

_ Your Secret Admirer"_

"And they're _ten _of these?" said Percy in awe, picking each one up and reading them.

"Yeah," I said proudly, blushing a little. As far as I knew, I was the only girl who was getting love letters, and it kind of made me feel…I don't know…_special._ Like someone out there actually _did_ care.

As Percy read another letter to himself, I asked, determined:

"Percy, I need your help."

"With…?" he said, not taking his eyes off of the letter.

If anyone was going to help me figure out my problem, it was Percy. "I want you to help me find out who my secret admirer is."

Percy

I widened my eyes in shock and surprise.

OH _HELL_ NO.

"Sure." I replied (despite what I thought), and smiled cheekily. She just _had_ to ask me, didn't she?

This was just _great. _Now I had to help her find _me._ I swear, if I get my hands on the Fates…

Percy Jackson: ½

Fates: 3

Luke better pay me extra for this…

**Short, I know, but I was rushing, and I'm really tired today. I had this Christmas party in class, and judging from the bubbly noise coming from my tummy, I overate. The next chapter will be much, **_**much**_** longer**_**. **_** Read and review! :)**


	10. The reason why

**Hi everybody! How'd you guys spend Christmas yesterday? :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Percy Jackson and the Olympians, I only own the rights to this story (IT HURTS SO MUCH! DX).**

**Enjoy! **

Thalia

**LILYLILYLILYLILYLILY**

"And I assume this will not happen again, Ms. Grace?" asked Headmaster Dionysus, raising his eyebrows in anticipation. I groaned and rolled my eyes, crossing my arms in defiance.

I huffed before answering, "Yes, Mr. D."

"_Headmaster D_," he corrected.

"Yes, _Headmaster D," _I yielded, rolling my eyes once again. Ms. C, who was lurking behind Mr. D's desk, smiled down at me sadistically.

"Good. Now that that's over, I have more important things to attend to," stated Mr. D. He spun in his swivel chair around to get something from the file cabinet behind him.

I quickly took the opportunity to stick my tongue at Martha. She widened her eyes, appalled. I smirked as I got up from the old leather chair I was sitting in and left his office. I could feel Ms. C's contact-covered eyes burning holes through the back of my head as I left the room.

Mr. D had called my dad, threatened to send me back home. Apparently, Ms. C didn't take very kindly to being addressed and quieted by her first name. Just five minutes after I had left the library, my name blared over the loud speakers. She did all she could to get me out of school, even if it was for only one day.

As I walked down the hallway, my thoughts wandered to my previous conversation with Annabeth, and then, for some unknown reason, I began to think about Luke.

There had been a lot of tension in my relationship with Luke. After three months of dating, he grew distant and cold. Luke wasn't the sweet guy he used to be. As I had told Annabeth, Luke was _different_. He wasn't the same guy I met back in California. Luke had _changed_.

He had these crazy mood swings, where he was happy at one moment, and angry at the next. They didn't start until after we began dating. Sometimes he would go as far as trashing things, hurting himself, hurting _me. _

No one knew about his abusive nature but me, but right after he was done hurting me, he'd apologize. He'd say the nicest things, leave roses on my car, buy me cards and chocolates and take me out to dinner. I'd end up forgiving him, because he was so darn sweet, but then he'd just do it again. He'd just keep on abusing me.

I found myself forgiving Luke over and over again, not telling anyone about his abusive nature, not even Annabeth. I didn't _want_ anyone to know about it. I didn't want anyone to find out that I kept letting him do this to me, that I was too much of a wimp to stop it. I didn't want anybody saying stuff like, _"Why wouldn't she tell anyone? I would've kicked his butt."_ I knew that what Luke was doing to me was wrong. I knew that I couldn't keep hiding the bruises forever, but I was afraid of what he'd do to me if I _did _tell.

I was aware of Luke's feelings for Annabeth. Those long gazes he cast at her when he thought I wasn't looking had to mean _something._ I was afraid. I was losing him.

I tried everything I could to reel him back in: I cooked for him, I bought him new stuff, gods, I even_ cleaned his room, _but he just ignored me. He still wanted Annabeth, no matter what I did. Why I even cared, I didn't know. If he started going out with Annabeth, he'd stop abusing me, and that was the big picture, right? _Wrong._

My fear of Luke wasn't the only reason I didn't break up with him, but I wasn't sure what the other reasons were. Maybe it was because I still loved him. Maybe it was because I was too afraid to destroy what Luke and I had before, before we became a couple. Maybe it was because I knew what he could do to her, what Luke was capable of doing. Maybe it was because…deep down, I knew I needed to protect Annabeth. Whatever the reason, it kept me back, and I continued to put up with Luke's abuse.

We had a fight one day. He won, of course, but only by force. His victory didn't stop me from warning him, telling him to stay away from Annabeth, to leave her alone. He just laughed, told me that he didn't love her; he loved me.

"If you love me," I said, choking back a sob. My voice sounded mangled and strange; I couldn't believe it was my own. Wiping the blood from my brow, I struggled to stand on my feet, and faced him in the eye. "Then why do you keep hurting me?"

Luke didn't answer. I got up and left.

Weeks passed, and still Luke didn't answer my question. Then weeks melted into months. I never did get an explanation from him.

Then, the day in the coffee shop happened.

It wasn't jealousy that made me dump Luke, I'm pretty sure of that. Well, maybe a little bit, but the only reason I was jealous was because Annabeth would have the good Luke, if only for a little while. I'd never get to have that again.

That day, Luke was moving in on Annabeth, and I had to take action. I didn't want Luke to do to her what he did to me.

But then, after we broke up, Luke ended up going after her anyway, despite my warnings. I'd warned Annabeth too, and even though she'd promise, I knew she'd still go after Luke.

And I was powerless to stop them.

**LILYLILYLILYLILYLILY**

Percy

**LILYLILYLILYLILYLILY**

So, there I was, casually hiding behind a potted plant next to the love of my life…yeah.

My life sucks.

So, as you probably know, earlier today, Annabeth asked me to help her track down her secret admirer. Which is me, but she doesn't know yet. Since I don't want her finding that out, I played along today, following her around the girl's dorm, dashing behind pillars and hiding behind potted plants and other various objects like a miniature James Bond.

The things we do for love.

"Shhh," whispered Annabeth, tugging on my sleeve. I snapped out of my daze, and looked up. She pointed down the hallway, where someone was approaching Annabeth and Piper's dorm room. Judging by the look on Annabeth's face, she wanted me to pay attention.

Today, the "mailman" was Jason. Yesterday (_before_ I got looped into this mess), I had told him to give Piper a package, which really a love letter addressed to Annabeth stuffed into a yellow envelope and wrapped in bubble wrap, but he didn't know that. I had told him to give it to her tomorrow, and since I said "tomorrow" yesterday, today was "tomorrow". I watched as he knocked on the door.

"Piper," he called, rapping his fist on the door, "I have something for you." He looked up and down the hallway, shifting his wait from foot to foot. Annabeth and I observed as Jason scratched the back of his head.

Just then, the door swung open, and Piper's head stuck out from the doorway.

"Thanks!" she said happily, quickly grabbing the package from his hand and poking her head back in. She quickly tried to shut the door behind her, but it bounced back. Something was in the way.

"So, what's in the package, Piper?" asked Annabeth, who was now in between Jason and Piper and had her foot in the doorway. I looked to my left, but no one was there. How had she gotten over there so quickly? Wasn't she here just a few seconds ago? I silently continued to survey the three from behind my appointed fern.

"Annabeth!" said Piper in a mixture of shock, surprise, and despair. I began to panic. This was not going well at all.

"What brings you here? I wasn't expecting you for another hour or so!" she continued on. Oh, crap. I forgot to text Piper about what happened earlier. But then again, I didn't expect our secret admirer-hunting to begin _immediately_. I would've given it a day, at most. Jason frowned in confusion.

"Did you just come out from behind that potted plant?" he asked Annabeth, bewildered.

She ignored his question, answering Piper instead, "What? It's my dorm room too, you know," she stated, walking in as Piper held the package behind her back. Jason and Piper's backs to me, I moved my potted plant closer to get a better look.

In hindsight, I guess it might've looked a little weird, since a moving potted plant was just sitting there in the middle of the hallway, but nobody seemed to care, so I just continued on with my task.

When I got a better view of the scene, I saw Annabeth walk deeper into the room, and turn around.

"So, what's in the package again?" she asked Piper, hands on her hips. She looked determined and confident, not at all like the stuttering love-sick puppy she resembled in front of Luke. She stood fierce as she held her posture.

Piper blinked, no doubt trying to come up with an explanation. Jason just looked on with naïve fascination.

"Medicine," she replied, smiling back at Annabeth, who narrowed her eyes back at Pipes. Everyone remained quiet as Annabeth speculated to herself. Just when she was about to open her mouth to ask another question, I jumped out from behind my plant.

"Um…" I started, unsure of what to say or do. Annabeth mouthed, "_What_ _the heck_ are you doing, Jackson?" as Jason and Piper spun around to see me. I stood there, frozen, not knowing where I was going with this.

"Piper, Jason… the Winter Dance Committee is meeting in a few minutes. Leo texted me, said your phones must've been off, 'cause he couldn't get you," I lied, hoping Piper would get the hint. I took a wild guess with the whole "phones are off" thing, but Jason pulled his Samsung Galaxy SIII out of his pocket.

"Oh," said Jason, turning on his phone to check his messages. "He didn't leave a message, though." He said as he stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

Jason took a few steps down the hallway, the turned to back to Piper.

"You coming?" he called.

"Oh, of course!" said Piper, realization dawning over her as she picked up my gist.

"Come on, Sparky," she grabbed Jason by the wrist, and after casting a cheeky smile back at Annabeth, she and Jason left down the hallway, Piper with the letter in hand.

Annabeth stormed over to me.

"_What_ was _that?!_ I almost had her! We were this close!" she fumed, holding two of her fingers less than a millimeter apart. She threw her hands down angrily.

"What? Leo _did_ text me," I reasoned, shrugging.

Okay, I admit, that wasn't the _entire_ truth. Leo did text me, yes, but to tell me to get Jason and Piper for Winter Dance Committee? No. The only reason he texted me was to ask me if I'd seen his missing bottle of ointment or not. I didn't know where his stupid ointment was. Frankly, I didn't even want to know what it was _for._

After steaming for a little while longer, Annabeth calmed down. She sighed, rubbing a mitten-donned hand on her temples.

"I just – never mind. It's cool. Let's just try again tomorrow, okay?" I nodded, feeling guilty. I know that Annabeth really wanted to know who her secret admirer was today, but I needed to stall her for just a little bit longer, just long enough for me to reach the Winter Dance unscathed.

I watched as she trudged down the hallway, made a quick decision, and then ran to catch up with her.

"Annabeth, wait," I said, my breaths becoming shorter, my heart beating faster. She slowly turned around, her sad, grey eyes boring into mine. We were close, _really _close. Like, _if-I-leaned-down-any-farther-I'd-be-kissing-you _close.

"Yeah?" she said, a spark of hope, desperation, and confusion glimmering in her eyes. I couldn't help but get lost in them. She blinked up at me.

"I-I need to tell you something." My voice sounded unsure, which was exactly how I felt about what I was about to do. I couldn't stand seeing her so upset, and I couldn't help but feel that it was my responsibility to make her feel better. I looked down into her stormy gray eyes.

"_Kiss her," _said that little voice in the back of my head.

"_Do it NOW!" _

I didn't though, in fear that I was being watched by some greater force, "greater force" being Luke, or a maybe a hidden camera or something.

"I know who – "

"Percy!" I was interrupted by the sound of a voice, and the thud of heavy footsteps coming down the hallway. I turned to see the last person I'd expect to be on the scene.

Luke.

Annabeth took a step back from me; I could feel her body heat retreat as she did. Luke smiled, walking over to where we were.

"Hey Annabeth," said Luke, a glint in his eye as he addressed her. She gave him a small smile, which quickly faded as she looked down and gained a sudden interest in her shoes. Annabeth looked shaken up, like she'd seen a ghost, as if she was unsure of what to do. She remained quiet as Luke turned back to me.

"We need to talk," he said, lowering his voice so Annabeth couldn't hear. I nodded, afraid, as we headed back down the hallway, leaving Annabeth behind. I glanced back at her and waved, and she waved back, still dazed. I watched as she entered her dorm room, closing the door behind her. We walked down the hallway in silence.

I revolved around to face the elevator, which was now in front of me. Luke punched the "down" button, and we waited as the numbers above the elevator lit up, showing the location of the elevator. Luke cleared his throat, and began to speak.

"I saw what just happened, Percy." He said in a low and eerie voice, still looking ahead.

"I thought we had a deal."

"We do," I replied, not turning to look at him. The elevator was two floors away.

"Then why were you about to tell her?"

I shrugged.

"'Cause I don't think it's fair that you're playing with Annabeth's emotions like that." I mused, still looking ahead.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luke turn to face me. He grabbed me by the shoulders, and forced me to turn. I winced, his hands digging hard into my flesh. Since when had he gotten this strong? Had all those sports his dad made him play pay off? Luke looked me in the eye.

"You're in this as much as I am, Percy." He growled, shaking me violently by my shoulders. "There's no turning back now. I read your little letters, kid. I don't want you leaving anymore hints, do you understand me?"

I nodded, eyes wide, suddenly afraid. My mind went blank from fear. He lifted me up, and I was a whole foot off of the ground.

Luke narrowed his eyes, trying to determine if I was being sincere or not.

"Dude," I managed to speak around the pain, "You can put me down now."

Luke un-narrowed his eyes. He loosened his grip, putting me back down on solid ground. I grunted, using my hands to rub my shoulders. The pain of it all forced me down on my knees. He glowered down at me.

"Stay away from my girl," he warned. The elevator doors opened, and Luke stepped in. I looked up. Luke stared at me, his glare unwavering, as the elevator doors closed. I let out a ragged breath that I didn't know I was holding, and forced myself, despite the pain, to stand on my feet. The doors slid closed.

I'd never seen this side of Luke before, and it scared me out of my wits. I looked up and down the hallway. No one was there. There was no one who could have been a possible witness, which upset me. The only person there was me.

Then it hit me: If I continued to go after Annabeth, Luke was out to get me.

It was then I knew I was going to die.

**WOW. That was just, WOW. This chapter is the whole entire reason this story's rated T. **

**Review. Tell me all my work was not in vain. O_O**


	11. I Get the Surprise of My Life

**Okay, okay, okay: sorry about not updating sooner. Ever since school started back up, I've been a little preoccupied with homework. Right now, I'm supposed to be typing an essay for English, so be grateful and review. :P**

**I got a lot of remarks last chapter, and I decided to address them here. :)**

**emmalunajackson33: Yes, Percy looks exactly like he is said to look in the series (with shaggy black hair, sea green eyes, and the cutest face known to man ;)).**

**To Guest (who was reviewer #75): I have never seen the movie Secret Admirer, as far as I remember. **

**To Mystica Tempest: Frankly, I don't know what "Cyrano de Bergerac" means, and I'm pretty sure I've never heard of it. The story was not based on Let It Shine, either. I wasn't a big fan of that movie, and didn't watch it until October 2012.**

**The book I'm currently reading: **_**To Kill a Mockingbird **_**by Harper Lee (SO, SO GOOD O_O.)**

**Disclaimer: EVEN THOUGH I (A) EAT, (B) SLEEP, and (C) BREATH Percy Jackson and the Olympians, I have to confess: I don't own the rights, Rick Riordan does. :'(**

Annabeth

**LINEBREAKLINEBREAKLINEBREAK**

It's official. I know who my secret admirer is.

Yesterday, after I left Luke and Percy in the hallway, I was sure of it. I went back into my dorm room, put the pieces together, and finally figured it out.

Earlier this morning, I was reading a letter that had appeared on my bed overnight:

"_Dear Annabeth Chase,_

_I only have one thing to say:_

_I love you._

_8 letters, three words, one meaning._

_I have this feeling deep in my heart, my gut, and in every nerve of my body whenever I think about you. When you're with me, I forget about everything else. When you're away, I feel lonely, and have an empty feeling that I've never had before. Not for a parent, or a family member, or a pet: just you. The first time I realized I loved you was because you weren't with me, and all I wanted was to be with you. I felt like I would do anything just to see you. I feel safe and comfortable with you, and it's like the world makes sense for the first time. When I see you come towards me, I get butterflies and I'm taken back at how much everything you do amazes me. I love you more than words can express. I never want to be without you and I never question how much I love you._

_And deep down, I hope you love me too._

_ Love,_

_ Your Secret Admirer"_

I read it over once again, and smiled. It was so sweet and heartfelt; it made me feel kind of special. I pulled out another love letter, read it over, and started thinking. The use of words, the unexpressed thoughts in parentheses…an idea as to who it might've been began to form in my head. I grabbed a pen and a sheet of paper from my backpack, and began to write a letter.

Two can play at this game…

**LINEBREAKLINEBREAKLINEBREAK**

Percy

**LINEBREAKLINEBREAKLINEBREAK**

Today had been a long day. Luke was constantly watching me; he stared at me twice in the hallway, watched me from the corner at gym, and he even followed me into the boy's bathroom (not the _stall,_ stupid). It was extremely weird, and Grover said I acted kind of edgy all day.

"Percy, hello?_ Percy!"_

"_What?!"_ I snapped at Grover, who was poking me repeatedly on the shoulder. My shoulders were sore from yesterday's beat-down, and Grover poking them wasn't helping much.

"Dude, calm down. I just wanted to ask: Do you want your apple?"

I handed him the stupid apple.

It was lunchtime, and all four hundred of the Yancy Academy students were crowded into the cafeteria. I sat at the Geek table (again), but more geeks began to join its ranks: Nico, Leo, and Frank had all migrated here last week. It was becoming less geeky and more outcast-y.

Nico, being his usual glum self, groaned.

"What's wrong, dude?" I heard myself ask.

"I'm too afraid to ask Thalia to the dance," he admitted. We all groaned in unison.

"I feel you, man," said Grover, who was crunching away at my apple.

"Took me a whole month to build up the courage to ask out Juniper."

"Well, at least she said _yes,_" said Leo. "Do you know how many times I've been turned down by Khione?"

"Dude, you're never going to go out with her. Move on, man." Scolded Travis, who had his feet propped up on the table. One glance from the Headmaster, though, and his feet went back on the floor.

"Says Travis, the guy who's been going to the Winter Dance with Katie Gardner for three years in a row." said Connor bitterly. It was weird though: if the two of them looked so alike, how come _one_ got girls and the other _didn't_? The answer to that question was beyond me. I watched as most of the guys nodded in agreement, and asked the question aloud.

"How come _Travis_ gets girls while _Connor_ doesn't?"

"Yeah, _Travis,_" spat Connor. _"How come?"_

I immediately felt a cat fight coming on.

Connor got up from the table in anger, and started walking towards the cafeteria doors.

"_Dude!?"_ Travis cried in my direction before going after his brother.

A little while after Travis left in pursuit of his loveless younger brother, Grover turned to me.

"So, Perce: you finally going to get some guts and ask Annabeth to the dance this year?" A bunch of hoots and hollers followed his question, and I suddenly felt like the spotlight was turned on me.

"Umm…" I didn't know how to answer that question. Deep, deep down, right next to the place where I kept my inner teenage girl, I had a really bad feeling that asking Annabeth to the dance would earn me a penalty worse than death-by-Luke. I mean, he was already beating me up for the whole letter thing, but actually asking her out? That wasn't something I was eager to do, even before Luke was out to get me.

The guys looked at me expectantly, eyebrows raised. Whoa, whoa, whoa: when did Jason get here? I gulped, my body feeling ten degrees hotter than it usually was.

"Ye – " just then, Luke looked up from the Jock table and began to glare at me so hard, I almost peed my pants.

" Yeeee – Maaay– " I quickly changed my answer, but Luke didn't back down.

"Maaaaayb – No. Definitely no." The guys groaned in disappointment.

"Aww, man," moaned Jason, who then got up from the table and went off to wherever he had come from.

"Sorry, guys," I said consolingly.

"Maybe I'll ask her next year."

The thing was, there wasn't going to _be_ a next year. If I kept going after Annabeth Chase, my life would end _today_.

**!**

An hour or so after lunch, I went to Biology, where, this week, we studied childbirth.

Now, you see, three years ago, when I was in the eighth grade, I might've have considered the class a seven on the gross scale. In high school, though, it was just labeled _just plain wrong._

There were videos. And PowerPoints. And PowerPoints _with _videos. It was all too much and to graphic to take in.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fall asleep for two reasons: One, Mr. Thorp, the Biology teacher, had said that if anyone of us fell asleep during the video, we'd earn an F for the semester. Two, Rachel kept staring at me. It was weird, a lot weirder than usual. She'd keep glancing in my direction nervously, like she was afraid I'd run away or something. I mean, I _would've,_ but just to get away from the gruesome video that was on display.

When the video was over, Mr. Thorp got up and stretched from his midday napping session.

"I hope you enjoyed the video, kids," he called to us while he was doing squats, his back to us. His pants weren't the most fitting; I could see his rear clear as day, which was even _more_ graphic than the video.

"You'll be having a pop quiz on it tomorrow." He finished as the class grumbled in return.

I began to pack my things, and I didn't notice that Rachel had walked over to me.

"Um, hey Percy."

"Hey," I muttered in return, my mind elsewhere. There were tons of things to think about: Annabeth, the dance, love letters, Luke being out to get me… it was too much for me to handle. Plus, I had some nasty black-and-blue bruises on my shoulders, and no amount of googling could find a cure for _those_…

"Percy."

"Huh?" I said, looking up, snapping out of my trance. Second time today I wasn't paying attention. Three more times, and it would be an all new record. Rachel rolled her eyes at me in frustration.

"I said I needed to ask you something," she said, her voice anxious. I began to panic.

Was she going to ask me to the Winter Dance? 'Cause if she was, I'd have to say no. As nice as Rachel is, I think I've made it pretty clear that I was obsessed with Annabeth and not her.

I gulped, preparing for the worst. "What is it?"

Rachel looked around, and I frowned. She seemed somewhat anxious, which was something Rachel Dare seldom looked.

I was about to ask if everything was okay, or if the video was to blame, when Luke walked into the classroom, and the both of us tensed.

Now, _I_ tensed because the guy practically beat me up the day before, but…_Rachel? _What, did Luke beat her up too? I highly doubted it.

I glanced at Rachel, who was five shades paler than she usually was. She raised a shaky hand to my arm.

"Um, I'll…talk to you later," she muttered, immediately grabbing her things and sprinting out of the classroom.

I just stood there, puzzled.

The bell had already rung, so as the net class slowly begun to file in, I left, and rushed on to my next class.

Whatever Rachel had wanted to ask me had to wait. I had other things to worry about; Mr. Thorp's pop quiz being one of them.

**!**

When I got to my dorm room at the end of the day, I got the surprise of my life.

On Luke's bed was an envelope with the words "To My Secret Admirer" in neat, script handwriting that I recognized as Annabeth's. I nearly got a heart attack.

I looked around, half-expecting Luke to pop out of nowhere and announce, "_Honey, I'm home!" _Nothing happened. I check the closet. No one. Then I checked behind the bathroom door. Nada; this was getting weird. If Luke wasn't here, that meant he was going to be back any minute now, and I had to hurry. I gingerly picked up the envelope, took a glance at the door, and ran (NINJA-SYLE) into the dorm room bathroom.

As soon as I locked the door behind me, I sat on the toilet and carefully tore open the envelope. Inside was a sheet of loose-leaf with a message scrawled on it in Annabeth's beautiful handwriting:

"_Dear Secret Admirer,_

_Okay, okay, I know you're a bit surprised, but after a little bit of researching, I finally figured out who you are. I just wanted to take this opportunity to say a few things._

_First thing's first: Thanks for the letters! I thought it was so sweet of you to write those for me. I didn't know you felt that way, and honestly, deep down, I feel the same way about you. I've had a crush on you for a really long time now, but just got a little…preoccupied. Every letter I read, I found myself liking you more and more. Your letters are so heartfelt and sweet; how could I _not_ fall in love with you? I appreciate all the time and care you must've put into them, and I assure you: your work was not in vain. I just hope that you can continue to write the letters, even though I already know who you are. Love you, and can't wait for what the future has in store for the two of us. Thanks for everything._

_Love, _

_Annabeth Chase"_

The letter took me a while to read, because of my dyslexia and all, but I was taken aback. She liked the letters? A surge of proudness filled me on the inside. I was so relieved that all my hard work wasn't in vain. And the part about Annabeth having a crush on me? I was all too happy.

But then, it hit me. Little puzzle pieces started putting themselves together in my brain. The envelope was on _Luke's_ bed, not mine. Annabeth hadn't put a name in the letter, or on the back of the envelope. What made me think that she was talking about me?

Crestfallen, I stood from the toilet, reading over the letter in sadness, heading for the bathroom door. As soon as I opened it, someone was standing on the other side, glaring down at me.

Luke.

"Hey, Perce," he said teasingly.

"What's wrong, had a bad day?"

Luke was the last person I wanted to see at the moment. I stood, surprised, the letter dropping out of my hand. Luke's eyes followed the letter down to the floor.

"What's this?" he said groggily. I caught the smell of beer on his breath, and nearly gagged. I had no idea Luke drunk.

When he grabbed the letter, he slowly stood and squinted, beginning to read it. I anxiously waited for what was going to happen next. In Luke's big, meaty hands, the letter began to crumple, and I felt the need to take it from him. It was special to me, and I didn't want _Annabeth's_ work to be in vain, like I thought mine was.

Ten minutes later, Luke tore the letter, crushed it up, threw it down onto the ground, smashed it under his foot, and grabbed me by the collar, lifting me up once again.

"_You're going to get it, Jackson."_

The following events happened so quickly, I barely had time to register.

One of Luke's fists flew into my stomach, and I crumpled on the floor. Black spots began to dance in my eyes; the pain alone was too much to bear. I tried to reach for Annabeth's letter, but Luke pressed a foot on my back and forced me down to the ground.

"_You told her, didn't you?!"_ he screamed in rage, his face red with anger. My breaths shortened; my heart beat faster. I didn't know what to do. I was convinced that I was about to die.

Luke's foot pressed down on my spine, and my lungs felt like they were being smashed into the floor. I could barely breathe. The world began to fade to black, and just before it did, I heard a door fly open, a scream, a crash, and then the pressure on my back lifted. I found myself unable to get up.

When I turned my head to the left, I saw Luke, unconscious, lying on the ground beside me. I turned my head back around and reached for Annabeth's letter, which was now a crumpled, dirty mess of paper.

Someone grabbed me from behind, and I tensed, but when I was turned around, I saw it was Piper. She had tears streaming down her cheeks, and she shifted my head so it was prodded up on my head. I was in so much pain; I didn't have time to think as to why she was there.

As I slowly drifted off into unconsciousness, I thought about what I was going to do. Should I keep writing the letters? Would Piper tell? I saw Piper's lips move, but didn't hear her voice. My vision and hearing where fuzzy.

I heard her murmur, "I-I'll get help," before I felt myself slip into darkness, and everything went black.


	12. Questions and Answers

**Hi random people I do not know! Welcome to chapter 12! :D**

**I'd like to apologize to all of my readers who have been waiting for so many long months for me to update this story. I had some personal stuff going on, and I might need to take a few breaks from time to time (if you don't mind), but I'm glad that I had enough time to write this. :)**

**If you followed this story before, I advise you read the last chapter over. It will explain a lot of the questions Percy asks in this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the freaking Olympians. Thank you. :D**

**Bobfina (my pet smiley face that eats reviews) is especially grateful for your 111 reviews, but I have to admit that she's getting kind of chubby. Feed her more, and she'll explode (which, for me, is a good thing)! :D**

**Hope you guys like this chapter! :)**

Percy

DKDKDKDKDKDKDKDKDK

When I opened my eyes, my first thought was _Oh, crap._

I had no idea where I was. I was in a dorm room, but it wasn't mine. It was a girl's. I could tell because a bunch of pictures of shirtless guys were plastered all over the wall in front of me, and most of the stuff around me was pink. I slowly sat up and rubbed my head.

I glanced around. The room was empty. Where was Piper? The last thing I remember, she was saying that she would get help. The events from earlier came rushing back to me.

Oh gods. Luke was out to get me. I was going to die. Then I remembered that Luke had passed out, too. Was he dead? Did he get amnesia? I silently hoped he did. Luke forgetting about Annabeth and the letters would be really great for me. I continued to rub my head and groaned. What had knocked _him_ out?

Just then, I heard a door open and someone gasp. I spun around to see Piper.

"You're alive - I mean, awake!" said Piper in relief. She hurried over to me. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did Reyna come?"

I blinked. She was speaking too fast for me to register what she was saying. "Wait…what?" My voice sounded all warbled and mangled, very un-Percy-like.

Piper gave me a small, relieved smile, pulled up a chair, and sat down across from where I was on the couch.

"I have so much to tell you," she began. "Where do you want me to begin? From the part where you passed out, or from the part where I got you here?"

My head still hurt, but I answered, "From where I passed out."

"Okay," said Piper, composing herself. "Well, here's what happened. A little while before you passed out, I threw a trophy at Luke. Sorry about that. I hope it wasn't yours. It had a little guy playing basketball on it and – "

"It was Luke's," I said, relieved it wasn't my one-and-only swim trophy. "Go on."

"After you fell unconscious, I tried to think of someone who could help, but there weren't a lot of options. I checked my contacts, and I couldn't call Annabeth, because, _duh_, she's the reason why this whole mess started. I couldn't call Jason, either, because he was at track practice. I didn't see the point in calling Leo – he only fixes things, not people – but I did call Reyna. She knows tons of medical stuff. She came over and helped me drag you over here to the girl's dorm. Then she looked you over and pronounced that the only injury you have is a broken rib. You should be okay, at least for now." Piper paused.

"Percy," Piper started. She nervously tugged at a little braid in her choppy brown hair. "Why did Luke hurt you? What exactly was going on?" She leaned over and put a hand on my shoulder, looking at me for answers.

It suddenly occurred to me that Piper didn't know about what Luke had been doing to me.

"Luke…he hurt me because he thought I told Annabeth about the letters. He – he read her letter, and – " I stopped, suddenly remembering the now crumpled piece of paper I had grabbed from the floor. Where had I put it? I put my hands in my pockets for them to come back empty.

"Where is it?" I said frantically as I glanced around the room once again.

"Where is what?" asked Piper in concern.

"The letter," I muttered as I got up from the couch and threw the pillows to the ground. Piper stood.

"Calm down," she told me. I was breathing heavily, panting even, and I turned to face her.

Piper pulled something out of her back pocket. "Do you mean this?" she asked, holding up a crumpled piece of paper. I gingerly took it from her hands.

It was the letter, the one Annabeth had written. A wave of relief washed over me as I slowly sat back down on the couch. I had gone through so much for that letter. I wasn't going to let it go just yet.

I slid it into my pocket, and then looked back at Piper. She was still standing, and gazed down at me with worried eyes.

"Besides Reyna," I croaked. "Does anybody else know?" Piper shook her head.

I thought up all of the people involved so far: Piper, Reyna, Annabeth, and Luke. I wasn't sure whether or not Rachel counted, though. I mean, yeah, she was involved, but not _involved_ (you get what I'm saying?). I didn't really want her involved, anyway. That would be one more person I put in jeopardy.

"If we don't hurry up and get out of here," said Piper as she glanced around nervously, "Drew might find out. This is her dorm room too, you know."

I imagined crazy Drew texting everyone at school about my little predicament. Then I got up and stretched.

"Let's go." I said.

Then Piper and I left the dorm room.

* * *

That night, I avoided sleeping in the boy's dorm altogether. Piper and I decided that it was too dangerous for me to be in a dark room with Luke at night, with no witnesses whatsoever. So Piper found me a blanket and had me sleep in the girl dorm's Janitor's closet. I was totally game, seeing as how I _did not want to die_.

I wrapped the blanket Piper had given me closer around my body, and shivered. The Janitor's closet was really, really cold at night, not that I'd ever been there during the daytime. The smell of cleaning products and dishwasher detergent was intoxicating. I thought about what to do while I propped up my head on some toilet paper.

"Should I ask Annabeth to the dance? Should I even go? Is _Luke _going? If Luke goes, and I don't know in advance, and I show up with Annabeth as my date, what's going to happen? Will Annabeth even say yes?" I said to myself. Ugh. This was all so complicated. All this stress and I was only 16. At this rate, I'd get grey hairs when I'd turn 20.

I closed my eyes as hundreds of questions and thoughts raced through my mind. I took me awhile, but I finally fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, I left the Janitor's closet and headed back over to the boy's dorm. There was still snow on the ground, and I trudged through two feet of the stuff to get to the entrance.

Was I going back to my dorm room to confront Luke? Heck, no. I was going to hide out behind a potted plant in the hallway (again) and wait for Luke to leave the room so I could change, _duh._

I watched from behind an enormously (abnormally would be the right word) large fern as Luke made his way down the hallway. Then I ran towards the door.

When I got inside, I ran to my dresser, grabbed a pair of jeans, a sweater, a scarf, and an old T-shirt, and then ran into the bathroom. I brushed my teeth. Then I took a shower. The warm water felt better than I thought it would on my freezing cold body. Right before I left the dorm room, I stopped by our mini-fridge and grabbed a yogurt. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until I actually ate something. I swallowed it down and made a mad dash to the cafeteria, where there would be more food. I was late for breakfast.

* * *

The cafeteria was packed. I passed a bunch of unfamiliar faces as I made my way to the line by the front. Who knows, maybe all those random people who aren't mentioned in the story decided to come out and live. Anyways, I grabbed a tray and got in line behind the next guy, and moved along with everybody else. I glanced around warily, half-expecting Luke to jump through a window and grab me, but to my surprise, nothing happened. Not a single face amongst the students in the cafeteria resembled Luke's. I nearly laughed with joy. Luke wasn't here. I moved along and picked up a bagel. Then Nico got in line next to me.

Nico looked like he'd been in a fight with a pillow and lost. He had a serious case of bedhead, which he always had, but he actually looked tired this time. He even had bags under his eyes. When he yawned, I decided to say something.

"Dude," I began as he slowly shuffled along with the line. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Nah," he said/yawned. "I was up all night helping Rachel and her friends decorate the gym for the dance. She was asking for you. Why didn't you come?" he asked.

Aw man. I totally forgot. Rachel had asked me to help her decorate the gym a lot of times, but I kept putting it off. Then I remembered that she had wanted to talk to me. I wondered what was so important that she needed to say it to me in private.

"Um…I was busy." I answered. Yeah, busy_ getting beat up._ It wasn't a total lie.  
"Oh," said Nico. Then he yawned again. "Okay." He stopped without prying for more answers. I picked up some eggs and some milk before moving down the line again.

"Speaking of the dance," Nico began again. "Who are you going with? I wanted to ask Thalia, but…" he bit his lip. "I don't know. That whole thing with her and Luke…" he trailed off. I knew what he was talking about. Heck, I'd been there against my will. But I also knew that asking a girl out too soon after she and her ex broke up was not a good idea.

"Don't worry, man," I said. "You'll find someone to go with you. And you won't know if Thalia likes you unless you say something. All you have to do is ask." It felt weird giving advice to Nico when I desperately needed some myself, but he gave me a small smile in return.

"Thanks, Percy." he said. Then, right before I left the line: "Good luck with Annabeth."

I walked over to the Geek table. All the guys were there: Grover, Travis, Connor, Jason (he was here to stay this time), Leo, Frank, and now Charles Beckendorf, Will, Dakota, and Malcolm. It was pretty packed. They were all freaking out over something (probably girls) and I tuned into the conversation. I squeezed between Grover and Leo and placed my tray on the table.

"What's going on, man?" I greeted Grover. The others guys greeted me with "Hey, Perce," and "'Sup dude,".

"Why so crowded?" I asked.

"It's two more days till the dance, man." said Jason. "We're freaking out here. Today's the last day to ask someone out. Who the heck are we supposed to ask when we only have one more day – "

"_Piper,"_ I coughed. Jason blinked, and his head tilted to one side.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing.

"Jason's right," said Will. He was standing and waving his arms around, like he was preaching to us all. "I only have one day to ask someone out. I have to go get my suit and the tickets and - " A really loud giggle from another table interrupted him and caught our attention. A large group of girls were sitting at one table together and glancing and giggling our way. I recognized Katie Gardner, Travis' girlfriend, and Silena Beauregard, Beckendorf's girlfriend, among the others. One girl twirled her hair around waved to Will, who blushed deep red and sat back down.

"What are we going to do, man?" said Chris Rodriguez, a senior, frantically as he grabbed another guy by the shoulders. "What are we going to do?"

The guys were right. We were running out of time. We had to buy tickets before they were sold out and find dates. I was mentally freaking out over the dance when a flash of black from the corner of my eye caught my attention. I turned to see Nico leaving the cafeteria, and dump the uneaten contents of his tray into the trashcan. Slowly, I got up from the table and left the guys and the cafeteria unnoticed.

Suspicious, I pursued Nico into the hallway. It was dark and cold and empty (classes had not started yet for the day). He turned a corner and I followed. I stayed a good amount of feet away, and tried to walk so my footsteps were in sync with his. Then he turned another corner, and I heard voices. I stopped at the end of the corner and pressed my back against the wall.

"Um, hey," I heard Nico begin. "How's it going?"

"Not so great," said a gruff voice I recognized as Thalia's. I listened on with more interest.

"Oh," said Nico, who sounded uncomfortable. I imagined him shifting from side to side and fumbling with the zipper on his aviator jacket. "Someone told me that you wanted to talk to me about something...so, I'm here. But, um, before you start, I was wondering if you might want to – "

"Nico," Thalia interrupted. "I'll go to the dance with you. But first, we need to talk. I need your help with something important." Thalia's sudden outburst startled me, but then I heard her whisper something to Nico. I couldn't hear what she said, but I made out the words "dance" and "Luke". Oh yeah. _Luke. _I had nearly forgotten about the guy who was trying to kill me. I tried to lean over as far as I could around the corner without the two of them – _"Percy?"_

I jumped. Annabeth was walking down the hallway behind me. She had said my name to get my attention. "What are you doing? And where have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere!" she cried as she ran up to me. She looked a whole lot livelier than the last time I'd seen her, but I quickly ran over to her and clasped a hand over her mouth. She was loud, and I was afraid that Thalia and Nico would hear us and come looking. Annabeth made a "_what-the-what?_"face before I heard footsteps and pulled her around a corner and into a classroom. I shut the door behind us. Annabeth struggled to get free. I though that Annabeth would bite my hand, or lick it, or something, but she didn't; she thrashed around in hope that I would let go.

I turned to Annabeth and used my free hand to put a finger over my lips to show her that we had to be quiet, and her eyebrows came together in confusion. I heard footsteps again, louder and closer than before. The footsteps got louder and louder until they suddenly stopped. I pressed my ear to the classroom door.

"I swear I heard something," said the muffled voice of Thalia. More footsteps. Then Nico spoke up: "It's probably the janitor. Let's just go. We have to get to class in half an hour, anyway. We should probably head to the gym and talk to – " he said a name I couldn't hear " – and see if they know anything. Come on." Then the footsteps faded down the hallway.

When I couldn't hear them anymore, Annabeth pulled my hand from her mouth, an angry and confused look in her eyes. I knew she would demand answers.

"What the heck is going on?! Why were you spying on Thalia and Nico? What were you– "

"Please, don't ask." I interrupted. Then I rushed on, saying, "I'm sorry. I'll explain later. I have to figure something out, okay?"

Annabeth regarded me up and down with her grey eyes, which looked at me as if they were searching me for something (probably insanity), but apparently they didn't find what they were looking for, because they looked down at the floor. I couldn't see her expression under the canopy of her long, blonde hair, which fell over her shoulders. I involuntarily blushed, and tried to occupy my mind with other things besides how pretty she looked. My fingers started playing with the buttons on my sweater.

"Okay," Annabeth finally sighed. She ran one hand through her hair, and turned away from me. "Fine."

Sitting there on the floor next to Annabeth, I had a strange urge to ask her to the dance, but I didn't. Right after I clasped my hand over her mouth and dragged her in a classroom really wasn't the appropriate time.

Annabeth and I left the classroom, and we went our separate ways. I watched her walk down the opposite end of the hallway, feeling a pang of guilt for not telling her what was going on, but there were bigger things at hand. I needed to find Thalia and Nico and find out what they had been talking about. I mean, I was excited about Nico's good fortune and all, but I needed to know: why were they talking about Luke? What did Thalia need help with? What did all this have to do with the dance?

I knew that class would start in a little while, so I hung around my first period classroom as students began to exit the cafeteria and pour into the hallways. I stopped by my locker and grabbed some books, and took a drink from the water fountain.

I waited for a few kids to go into my first period classroom before me, and was about to enter when I spotted a glimpse of Rachel walking down the hallway.

Like Nico, Rachel looked really tired. She had bags under her eyes, and hugged a bunch of textbooks to her chest. Rachel was wearing her marker and paint-stained jeans and an old sweatshirt that looked two sizes too big.

Rachel glanced around and disappeared down a hallway, and, since I wasn't really the early bird-type, and stalking had recently become my thing, I followed her and turned the corner.

At the end of the hall were a set of familiar doors which I knew led to the gym, so I swung one open and walked into the room on the other side.

As soon as I walked in, I took in a breath.

The gym looked awesome. The Dance Committee had decorated the entire room to look like a Winter Wonderland. They had glistening snowflake decorations of all shapes and sizes hanging down from the roof. White garland was strung across the walls. The stage was decorated to look like someone's front yard on Christmas Day, because there was a snowman, a couple of fake Christmas trees, and one of those inflatable lawn decorations with Santa Claus in a globe. There were stage lights all over the place, on the stage, on the bleachers, in corners, etc. A bunch of kids were supervising a guy on one of those mechanical lifts attaching a huge disco ball to the roof. It looked pretty cool. I could tell that Rachel and her team had put a lot of work into it, and I felt a little guilty for not being able to help out.

I heard the sound of the gym door open. I spun around to see Luke walk in. Oh gods. I totally forgot. Rachel had not only asked me to help her decorate for the dance a few weeks ago. She'd asked _Luke, _too. I had no idea that he'd actually been helping out here all this time. Luckily, Luke didn't seem to notice me, and he walked over and began to chat with some freshman girls who were sorting out leftover decorations. I heard someone yelp, and turned around to see Rachel with a look of pure terror on her face. Then she ran onto the stage and behind a curtain. Curious, I began to follow her up the stage.

Then I walked onto the stage and went behind the curtain.

I found Rachel standing behind the curtain, nervously peeking out . I quickly strode over to her.

"Rachel, what's wrong?" I asked cautiously as I approached her. She flinched and spun around to look at me.

"Percy! It's you!" she said in surprise. Then she glanced back out at Luke, who was laughing wholeheartedly with the freshman girls. I turned back to her.

"I need to ask you something," I began. "Why are you acting so strange? Why are you so afraid of Luke? Did he say something to you? Did he…" I trailed off as worst-case scenarios. I knew what Luke was capable of, and that he could make anyone do what he wanted them to do using sheer force. I grabbed Rachel by the shoulders.

"Rachel," I said, my voice tight. _"What did Luke do to you?"_

"Nothing," said Rachel in bewilderment, like the very thought of Luke doing something to her was completely absurd. "He didn't do _anything _to me. But I wanted to talk to you about something else, Percy. I wanted to talk about what he did to – "

"Percy!" said a voice I did not want to hear. I closed my eyes shut, let go of Rachel's now trembling shoulders, and slowly turned around.

"Luke," I seethed. I opened my eye. He was smiling down at me, but it wasn't a kind smile. Luke's smile radiated hatred and cruelty and evil. There was a glint in his cold, blue eyes, similar to the look you would see in the eyes of a villain in an action movie.

Luke smiled over at Rachel.

"Hey, Rachel," he tried, but she just backed into a pile of empty paint cans, which toppled to the floor with loud "CLANG"s. She fell and landed flat on her bottom, still gazing up at Luke in fear. Luke turned his attention back to me.

"I've been looking for you everywhere, Percy," he began. The tension behind stage was getting unbearable. I tried to figure out what his next move would be. He wouldn't strike, not with Rachel and the other students here. I stepped around the snowman, and backed away from Luke out from behind the curtains and onto the stage, so everyone could see me.

Luke moved towards me. I stepped back and almost knocked into a Christmas tree. The curtain cast shadows over Luke's face, which made him look even more menacing.

"Where were you yesterday?" he asked. "You weren't in the dorm. I didn't see you this morning, either. Wouldn't it be a shame if some rumors got around?" he said with a malicious tone. I was confused. What was he trying to say? What rumor could he possibly make up…oh. _Oh. _I was in the girl's dorm. At night. Me. A boy. In a building full of girls. The whole situation wasn't going to sound very funny to the Headmaster, was it?

"Shut up, Luke," I said. "Just leave us alone, or…" I tried to come up with something equally horrible to Luke's threat, but I came up short. Luke snorted at my hesitation. Then he turned to Rachel.

"Tell anyone and die," he threatened her. Rachel gaped up at Luke with wide eyes. I didn't know what he was talking about. Then he turned to face me once again.

"And for you," he said, poking me hard in the chest. He stepped close enough for me to smell his breath, and I could tell that he'd been drinking again.

"If you even _think _of asking Annabeth to the dance, I'll get you _and _Piper."

Then Luke backed off. Luke pushed his way past me to get to the stairs, and he was halfway there when he suddenly stopped.

"See you at the dance, chumps." He said dryly. Then he walked down the stairs and onto the gym floor. I watched with wary eyes as Luke walked out of the gym.

When he was gone, I turned to Rachel and helped her to her feet. She brushed off her jeans and muttered something I couldn't hear, and then looked up at me. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn't. We both stood there awkwardly.

After a while, I decided to speak up. "Rachel…"

"I won't tell anyone what happened." She answered immediately. She looked down and she wouldn't meet my gaze. I got what she was saying, but I wasn't going to say what she had in mind. "I can't tell you what happened between me and Luke. I'm not sure how he found out how I knew about it, anyway. I'm sorry. And forget what I said about wanting to talk to you yesterday. But I hope you're okay." she said.

I was still confused as to what she was talking about, and what she had meant by "okay". Rachel started past me for the stairs at the opposite end of the stage.

Like Luke, she stopped and turned to face me.

"Is there something else you wanted to ask me?" she asked. She sounded hopeful.

It slowly dawned on me that Rachel must've liked me. I mentally slapped myself for being such a dunce. _Of course_ she liked me. What other girl would willingly want to hang out with me? Then it occurred to me that she was referring a question regarding the dance, and I mentally slapped myself again. I couldn't ask her. I just _couldn't. _No matter how sweet or nice or involved Rachel was, I could not take her to the dance. Despite what Luke said, I absolutely _had_ to ask Annabeth to the dance. This is going to sound Zuko-y, but…I was pretty sure it was my destiny. I felt as if there was no way some girl, or Luke, or some stupid was going to get in the way of me asking the love of my life to go to the Winter Dance with me.

"Um, no," I muttered back, dropping Rachel's gaze. I saw her face fall, and she walked down the stairs.

Geez. I was messing with Rachel's emotions like Luke was messing with Annabeth's, and I did not like how much that comparison applied to the situation.

Rachel went over to some juniors who were putting up more garland, and I watched, frozen in place on the stage. I could see the whole gym from here. I saw the spotlights in their varying places all over the gym. I saw the snowflakes gleaming in the sunlight that poured through the gym windows. I watched as the disco ball that was being installed onto the roof suddenly dropped down a couple feet, and listened to the snide remarks of the decorating team as the guy who almost dropped it apologized sheepishly, and silently made a decision. I was going to ask Annabeth to the dance. I was going to have a good time. And I was going to stop Luke from threatening and hurting anyone else, once and for all.

I walked off the stage.

* * *

**Well, that's over. Just wanted to let you know that this entire thing is nine pages and 4,534 words long. It's what you guys deserve after such a long wait.**

** Only a couple or so more chapters till this is over. Hope you guys liked this one. Bobofina will be waiting for her reviews. :)**

**See ya'll next chapter! :D**


	13. Confession Time

**Thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed last chapter, especially percyjason for reviewing so many times! This story wouldn't be here without you guys! :)))**

**Who wants to know the story stats? So far, we have 80 Favorites, 133 follows, 134 reviews, and – drum roll, please – 17,448 views! Wooo! I LOVE YOU GUYS! :DDD**

**Anyways, I decided to change the POV from Percy to someone else, so some of your questions will be answered this chapter. Hope you enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: ME NO OWN PJO. RICK DOES.**

* * *

Rachel

:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O:O

I…I have a confession to make.

I saw Luke abuse Percy in the hallway.

* * *

I had just gotten back from one long day of decorating the gym for the dance. I was voted to be in charge of the Decorating Team by the Dance Committee weeks before, so I spent most of my time supervising the placement of various decorations.

I had just placed an order for a giant Disco ball from Amazon when Katie asked me for a stapler to help put up the garland. I glanced at the wall. The garland that was already there looked fine to me, but Katie claimed that they'd tried to use tape, and it wouldn't stay up. As if to prove her point, a strand of garland fell off of the gym wall. Since I didn't have a stapler on hand, I left the gym and walked down the school hallways to head to the nearest classroom.

All the teachers I asked didn't have staplers. Mr. Brunner did, but it had no staples. None of the other teachers had staples, either, so I grudgingly left the main building and headed over to the girl's dorm.

The air was cold, and there was snow on the ground. The sky was bland and gray. I trudged through the path of sludge that led to the girl's dorm, and opened the front door. I greeted the Dean, Ms. Harlow. She wasn't a very good Dean – she let boys come into the dorm all the time. There were no security cameras, or alarms, or anything else to keep guys out – the only people she didn't let in were adult males. When I first began to notice that guys showed up in the girl's dorm on a regular basis, I freaked out, thinking that someone was going to get raped for sure. After some months, I began to cool down. Nothing ever happened here at Yancy Academy, at least not while I was there.

I strode into the elevator, which was full of other girls freaking out about the dance. I recognized Silena Beauregard, Lacy, Lou Ellen and a few others among them. But I didn't really pay any attention to what they were talking about. They all got out at the Lobby, and I pressed the button for the third floor. The doors slid closed, and the elevator began to move.

I watched the numbers increase: 1, 2…and then finally, the third floor. The doors slid open, and I walked out. I heard a noise from the staircase next to me, and I saw Luke ascend from the stairway. I wasn't surprised. He rushed past me, seemingly in a hurry.

"Hey Luke," I said.

"Shut it – " he replied, and then a not-so-very-nice word. I was appalled. What in the world was wrong with him?

"Hey!" I began. "What did I ever do to you?"

Luke disappeared around a corner and was gone. I shook my head and headed for my dorm room.

I opened the door. A bunch of Thalia's punk-rock tee's and my art stuff were all over the floor, so I stepped over them and made my way over to my dresser. I quickly surveyed the top of the dresser: a seashell from a family vacation to St. Thomas, a necklace, a scarf, my blue plastic hairbrush, and a bunch of other things – I found the stapler and grabbed it. I was about to leave when I spotted a box full of old decorations and my brain went into hyperdrive. _That tinsel would look great in the gym, _I thought, my artistic side getting the best of me. _Are those wreaths? We could put them on all of the gym doors, and maybe we can hang some of those snowflakes from the roof… _

I sat down on my bed and pulled the box over to me, and began to rummage through the merchandise. There were tons of things we could use – more garland, colored film for the spotlights, streamers, ornaments – the whole box was full of decoration gold. I put the stapler in the box along with the other items, and then, just in case we might need them, I headed back to the dresser and got a pack of staples. I threw them in the box.

I smiled down at the box. This dance was going to be the highlight of the year.

My mind continued to race. _Maybe I could take to the Headmaster later about the proceeds. _I thought. _If we could get at least 10 percent of all the money earned to go to charity, that would be great. If I can just convince - _

A noise from out in the hallway interrupted my thoughts. I hadn't been paying much attention before, but I had left the door to the dorm room open. I poked a head into the hallway, and saw Piper lead Jason down the opposite end of the hallway. Percy and Annabeth stood close by, their backs to me.

"_What_ was _that?!_ I almost had her! We were this close!" I heard her say. She held her two fingers a small way apart. She seemed very angry. What was going on?

"What? Leo _did _text me," said Percy with a shrug. I still didn't understand. What had happened?

Annabeth rubbed a gloved hand on her temples. "I just – never mind. It's cool. Let's just try again tomorrow, okay?"

Percy nodded. Then Annabeth turned in my direction, and I quickly stuck my head back into the room before she could see me. I quietly closed the door, but not all the way. I left a little crack so I could see what happened next.

I saw Percy run down the hallway after Annabeth.

"Annabeth, wait," he said once he caught her. They were standing right in front of the door.

Annabeth turned to face him.

"Yeah?"

"I-I need to tell you something."

The two of them were really close. My eyes widened as Percy leaned down a bit. What! No! This _could_ _not _be happening. I thought – I thought Percy liked me back. I was sure of it. Deep down, something inside of me knew that Percy liked Annabeth, that it could never happen, that I could never be with him. I tore up a bit as I watched him lean in.

Percy suddenly stopped, like he was waking up from a dream.

"I know who – "

"Percy!" he was interrupted by the sound of a voice, and the thud of heavy footsteps coming down the hallway. The person came into view.

_Luke._

Annabeth took a step away from Percy. Luke smiled and walked over to them.

"Hey Annabeth," he said, looking at her. She gave Luke a small smile and looked at the floor. For some reason unknown to me, she looked scared. Luke turned to Percy.

Luke lowered his voice said something I couldn't hear. Percy nodded, and they began to head down the opposite end of the hallway, towards the elevator. I could see them move farther and farther away as they neared the end of the hall.

They passed Annabeth, and Percy waved to her. Annabeth waved back, still oddly silent. Her back was to me again, so I could not see her facial expression as the two males moved down the hall. Then she turned in my direction. At first, I was afraid she had seen me, but I guess she hadn't, because she just glanced past my door and headed down the end of the hallway, opposite to the end where Percy and Luke were. She walked out of sight, probably to her dorm room.

I watched as Percy turned back around to face the elevator, and both of their backs were to me. Luke made a movement, and the numbers above the elevator began to decrease. Luke cleared his throat, and I strained my ears to listen to what he said next.

I didn't hear what he said, but I saw his mouth move. I saw Percy reply, but I didn't hear what he said, either. Luke opened his mouth to speak again, and I heard it this time.

"Then why were you about to tell her?"

Was 'her' Annabeth? Tell her what? What the what were they talking about?

Percy shrugged.

"'Cause I don't think it's fair that you're playing with Annabeth's emotions like that." He replied.

Luke turned to face him, and I saw the side of his face. Then, he did something I didn't expect him to do. He grabbed Percy by his shoulders, and turned him around to face him. Percy winced, and Luke looked him in the eye. I took in a breath.

"You're in this as much as I am, Percy." I heard Luke growl. He violently shook Percy violently by his shoulders.

"There's no turning back now. I read your little letters, kid. I don't want you leaving anymore hints, do you understand me?"

Percy's eyes went wide, and he nodded in response. He lifted Percy up high off the ground. Luke narrowed his eyes up at him.

"Dude," I heard Percy say. "You can put me down now." Leave it to Percy to kid around in a life-or-death situation.

Luke's gaze softened as I watched in horrified fascination. He slowly lowered Percy back down onto the ground. Percy grunted and rubbed his shoulders in pain, and then he staggered and fell to his knees.

I wanted to run out to him, to pick him up and tell him that it was going to be okay, but I didn't. Something told me to wait.

Luke glared down at Percy.

"Stay away from my girl." He told him. The elevator doors opened, and Luke stepped in. I watched as Percy looked up. Luke stared at him, his glare unwavering, as the elevator doors closed. I gulped. I heard Percy let out a ragged breath, and he shakily stood to his feet.

I looked at Luke, who continued to glare down at Percy. The elevator doors slowly closed, but right before they did, Luke took his eyes off of Percy, and I watched as they darted around his surroundings. Luke's eyes stopped darting around, and I froze.

He was looking straight at me.

The elevator doors slid closed.

I softly shut the door, and a hand flew to my mouth. My eyes widened in shock.

My mind raced once again. Luke had hurt Percy. The two of them were after Annabeth, and for what reasons, I did not know. My head spun, and, like Percy, I fell to my knees as the weight of the situation came crashing down on me.

Luke had seen me. He knew that I knew what had happened, and I had a feeling that he would get back at any potential witnesses, anyone who knew anything about what he was capable of.

And I had just witnessed the entire thing.

* * *

Today, when I got back from the gym, I plopped down on my bed. Thalia was off somewhere, probably with her brother. I thought about Percy not asking me to the dance, and grabbed my pillow and put it over my face. Then I screamed. It felt good to let it out.

Luke's threat hung in the air.

_"Tell anyone and die."_

I knew that he was talking about the incident in the hallway. If I told anyone about what I had seen, I would be dead, or worse. I knew what Luke could do, and that he wasn't afraid to do it. I couldn't tell a soul. What in the world was I supposed to do?

I rubbed my temples, groaning, and then I spotted something on Thalia's side of the room. The covers on her bed were messed up, so I could see the things under her bed. There were a couple suitcases, and something that got my attention – a shoebox. Thalia pretty much owned two pairs of shoes: her sneakers and her combat boots, so I was naturally curious.

I got up from my bed and onto the floor. Then I reached for the shoebox under her bed, and pulled it out. I began to examine the box. I was a regular old shoebox, with the name of the shoe company and a big logo on it. It was heavy, so I shook it and heard something rattle inside. I opened the box.

I gasped. Inside the box was a huge stack of letters, all gathered together in a rubber band. I took the rubber band off.

I plucked the first one from the pile and began to read.

* * *

_"Dear Thalia,_

_ I miss you so much. I haven't seen you in weeks, ever since you moved away from California. I know that moving away was your decision, but I sometimes I wish that you were here, with me._

_Annabeth misses you. She says that you have to come back for Christmas, no buts. She says she loves you._

_I love you. I miss you so much – I don't know what to do without you. Please, come back. I'm lost without you, Thals. I need you by my side. Please._

_I honestly think I'm losing my mind. I can't stop thinking about you. The way you laugh, your smile...everything. I think you're beautiful. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. So please, please come back._

_My mom says hi. She baked you a batch of burnt chocolate chip cookies. Even she seems to be crazier than usual. You were all of our sanity._

_This letter is getting kind of lengthy, isn't it? Again, I love you. I miss you more than you could ever know. It doesn't feel like a family without you._

_Love, _

_ Luke"_

* * *

I teared up a bit. That was one of the sweetest things I have ever read. It seemed odd that someone as horrible as Luke could write something as beautiful as this. I went through the others.

There were tons more. In each one, Luke would say that he loved her, that he missed her, that he couldn't live without her. A few of them came with pictures. I observed an old picture of Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth much younger than they were now. There was a big "Happy 8th Birthday, Annabeth" Luke was smiling, which is something he rarely does these days. Thalia was smiling, too. Little Annabeth smiled along with them, chocolate cake smered all over her face. I smiled at the picture.

Suddenly, A thought occurred to me.

Letters. When Luke was talking to Percy in the hallway, he had said something about reading Percy's letters.

Was Percy writing similar letters to Annabeth? That would explain a lot. More puzzle pieces began to move themselves in my head.

The restaurant, the hallway, the gym – everything made sense now. Percy _was _writing letters to Annabeth. I knew that both Percy and Luke liked Annabeth, because Luke told Percy not to ask her the dance. The only thing I didn't know was why Thalia broke up with Luke. Was she just jealous of Annabeth? Or maybe…Maybe she knew what Luke was capable of! Maybe she knew about him hurting Percy!

Excited, I looked in the shoebox for more clues. There was a small box of old, untouched chocolate, some shriveled-up rose petals, and some postcards. I quickly looked them all over, and found nothing interesting. I turned the box over and dumped the contents on the floor.

A bunch of postcards and pictures fell out. I sorted through the mess. It was just a bunch of lovey-dovey stuff Luke had sent Thalia over the years. I grunted in frustration. I didn't see anything that could prove –

I froze. There was a black-and-white picture stuck under a pile of other ones. I quickly pulled it out from under the pile.

It wasn't a picture, I observed. It was an _x-ray._ I examined the photo.

It was an x-ray of someone's ribcage. Several ribs were broken and fractured, and at first, I was confused. Who's x-ray was this? What had happened to them?

Realization dawned on me, and I excitedly stood, the x-ray still in my hands.

The x-ray was of _Thalia's_ ribs, not someone else's. Thalia _did _know what Luke was capable of.

I quickly stuffed the things back into the shoebox, and shoved it under her bed. I turned the new bit of information over and over in my head, then grabbed my coat and headed towards the door.

Screw Luke. I was going to tell somebody.

I was going to tell Thalia Grace.

**Rachel: 1**

**Fates: 0**

* * *

**This…this is my favorite chapter. I am so proud of myself right now for coming up with this entire idea on the spot. Please review, guys. I'm just…I feel so accomplished. :')**


End file.
